A Spark
by Reaalis
Summary: Kenichi heads for Japan with Tima hoping to escape Metropolis' wartime martial regime. Chapter 6 done! It's a rather belated update, but I hope it's enjoyed
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Metropolis, nor will I ever I suspect. The characters aren't   
mine either.  
  
Well, it's the first chapter of the next part of the story. I hope you like it. Not much   
happens in this chapter, but I hope it'll be a fun read. It's really just to prepare for the   
next chapter. Believe me things are going to get interesting, and perhaps a little   
angsty. Any way bear with me okay?  
*********************************************************************************************  
  
"Well then…" Kenichi said to himself as he and Tima stood outside the airport.  
"What do we do now Kenichi?" Tima asked.  
"I suppose we should look for my uncle, I'm sure he'll let us stay with him. His   
office isn't too far from here as I remember…" Kenichi answered looking around at   
the towering buildings. It would be a problem if they didn't find Shinsaku before   
nightfall. They had no money and nowhere to stay, and it'd be dangerous sleeping on   
the streets of this part of Tokyo. The two of them set off in what Kenichi hoped was   
the direction of his uncle's office.  
* * * * *  
  
"I guess we're lost." Kenichi said as he sat down against a wall in the entrance to an   
alleyway. Tima followed suit. It was starting to get dark around them, and Kenichi   
shivered as a breeze blew around his shoulders. It looked like they were going to be   
roughing it after all.  
"I suppose now that I'm back I'll have to go to school again…" Kenichi sighed.  
"What's school?" Tima turned to look at Kenichi.  
"It's a place children go to learn things. You'll probably be coming with me."  
"Don't you want to go back?"  
"Not really. I know I need to but it's just so boring…"  
"It sounds like a lot of fun to me." Tima said. Kenichi smiled, she certainly seemed to   
enjoy learning, but how would she deal with schooling? It wasn't exactly like she   
fitted in very easily, and the teachers probably wouldn't take very kindly to her   
constant questions. School wasn't a very compromising place. Kenichi leaned his   
head back against the wall, and Tima laid her head against his shoulder. In a little   
while she was asleep and Kenichi was fighting to stay awake and on the look out.   
First thing tomorrow they'd look for a police station.  
It's getting cold… he thought. As if sensing his thoughts, Tima shivered a little in her   
sleep.  
Realising that Tima wasn't dressed for this kind of weather Kenichi started to take off   
his jacket then stopped. If he weren't wearing it he'd be in the same situation as Tima   
was now. After a moment's consideration Kenichi shrugged his shoulders and took   
off the jacket, crossed his legs, then slipped an arm around Tima's shoulders and   
beneath her legs, shuffling her carefully on to his lap hoping not to wake her. Next   
Kenichi put on the jacket without putting his arms in the sleeves and pulled it around   
the two of them, buttoning it up at the front. It wasn't much and the stretched fabric   
let a little of the breeze through, but it was the best they had. He put his arms around   
Tima in the hopes of keeping her a little warmer.  
Kenichi laid his head against the wall, trying to find a comfortable position to wait out   
the night. But as Tima sighed quietly he suddenly found that he too felt extremely   
tired, and after a short time found he couldn't resist any longer and fell asleep.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"…ma!" Kenichi woke suddenly. Nothing was different, Tima was still asleep in his   
lap, and the traffic was still rushing through the streets. All that had changed was the   
time, the soft morning light was pouring into the alley. It was just a dream, but it had   
seemed so real… No it was only a dream! There was no way Tima could ever be that   
way, and he would never let her get involved in a war… Unless he couldn't do   
anything… There were any number of things that could stop him keeping Tima safe,   
but she seemed to think he was all-powerful…  
Kenichi shook his head as if trying to shake off his headache then looked down at   
Tima.   
"Tima, it's time to get up," he said nudging her gently.  
Tima opened her eyes and yawned, then tried to stand up.  
"Tima wait…! Kyah-!" Kenichi exclaimed as the two of them fell over sideways.   
There was a brief struggle as they tried to get out of Kenichi's jacket, which   
eventually just fell apart as they rolled around laughing in a kind of mad play fight.  
"Kenichi I'm stuck!" Tima said as she tried to squeeze through the jacket's neck.  
"So am I!" Kenichi replied as they started to roll in a different direction, "Wh-? Now   
I can't move my arms!"  
Tima took advantage of the moment's confusion to squeeze her head past Kenichi's   
and through the neck, ending up on top of him with her hands on his shoulders.  
"Hey that's not fair! You pinned me!" Kenichi said trying to free his arms.  
"Sorry Kenichi I-," Tima's apology was suddenly cut off as Kenichi, having freed his   
arms pulled the jacket back over her head trapping her hands against her chest, then   
rolled over pinning her down.  
"Kenichi I… What are you do- ha ha! Hahaha s- stop- haha! Ahahaha!" the   
outburst was prompted by Kenichi's starting to tickle her. Fighting the strange feeling   
that seemed to be paralysing her, Tima pushed her arms up and into the jackets   
sleeves, grabbed Kenichi's shoulders and rolled him onto his back.  
"Uh Tima…" Kenichi wasn't sure of the strange glint in Tima's eye, "You… Ack!   
Oh no! Hahaha!" The tables had turned; Tima was copying what Kenichi had done,   
and now had him at her mercy.  
"Aha! Tima… Tima please… hahaha… stop please!" he begged. Normally this   
would have stopped her immediately, but since she had enjoyed Kenichi's doing it to   
her even though she had tried to stop him, she knew he felt the same. Somehow the   
whole situation just seemed right. Tima giggled as she tickled Kenichi, dodging his   
hands wherever they tried to block her.  
Kenichi on the other hand decided he wasn't having this, he wasn't going to loose.   
Summing up all of his will he moved his arm and poked Tima in the armpit. She   
leapt back with a sort of yelp, and taking his chance Kenichi jumped forward and   
pinned her. But before he could start on Tima again she surprised him, as with a   
sudden burst of strength she rolled him back over, wearing a strange smile.  
"Uh… Tima…?" Kenichi asked. There was something scary about that smile.  
Quick as a flash Tima moved forward, and before Kenichi could react she had planted   
a kiss on his lips. A split second later Tima was back above him again, giving   
Kenichi no time to take advantage of her momentary loss of balance.  
"What…?" Kenichi slid out from under Tima and sat looking at her.  
"Kenichi? Did… did I do something wrong?" Tima asked looking suddenly   
frightened.  
Had Tima really just…? "Tima…"   
She was kneeling about a foot away. Kenichi just didn't know what to say.  
"Tima… why did you… kiss me…?" he asked, fighting the lump in his throat.  
"Aki told me it's how you tell someone you love them," Tima answered, "It is alright   
isn't it?"  
"You… you love… me?" Kenichi stuttered.  
"Yes. Do you love me too Kenichi?" Tima asked.  
"I… I…" Kenichi couldn't think of a response. He thought he felt love towards Tima   
but… he wasn't in love with her. So he loved her as a friend? No, more than a   
friend. He just loved her as Tima. Not romantically, he just loved her. He had a   
feeling Tima probably felt the same way.  
"…Yes." Kenichi finally answered.  
"Kenichi!" Tima laughed, diving forward and hugging him.  
"Yah!" Kenichi fell over again.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Two on and left…" Kenichi muttered to himself, repeating the directions the lady he   
had asked had given him to the police station. He never had liked them, having   
already been to several with his Uncle, "Here we are."  
The police station was a large tower block, and the area around it was a constant buzz   
of activity.  
"Stay close Tima," Kenichi told Tima. She drew a little closer to him, and together   
they walked into the entrance hall.  
It was a massive affair, all glass and steel at the front, with the other walls painted in   
neutral colours and at least seventy people going about their business.  
"May I help you?" a voice asked from their right. Kenichi and Tima turned to find its   
source, and found a lady wearing a suit standing beside them. She was tall and quite   
slim with shoulder length black hair, and had an air of authority about her.  
"What are two children like you doing here alone?" the lady asked   
"We're lost. I need to find my Uncle." Kenichi answered. The woman looked at his   
stretched and distorted jacket curiously.  
"Uh… eheheh…" Kenichi laughed in embarrassment looking at his sleeves.  
"Hm… Well, if you'll give me your names, I'll see what I can do."  
"Ban Kenichi, and Tima," Kenichi gestured to himself and Tima.  
"Tima who?"  
Kenichi had never thought to give Tima a family name. His answer was the first   
thing that came to mind, "Um… Saito, Saito Tima."  
"I'll be back in a moment," the lady turned and walked over to a nearby desk. When   
she came back she seemed puzzled.  
"Well I've found your uncle Kenichi, but your friend doesn't seem to be in our   
records. Is she from Japan?"  
"No Tima's my cousin from Metropolis, she's come to live with me and my Uncle   
since her parents died in the disaster."  
Tima turned to look at Kenichi in confusion; "But Kenichi I thought you said-,"  
Kenichi quickly cut her off, "Not now Tima. Can I telephone my uncle please?"  
"I already have. He said he would be here soon."  
Kenichi felt suddenly relieved, "Thank you."  
"You can wait over there. Oh and by the way," the lady said pointing to a row of   
seats then turning to Tima, "I'll send someone over to speak to you at some point. It's   
just standard procedure; as things are we need to find out as much about Metropolis as   
we can."  
Having said all of this the lady turned and walked away. Kenichi and Tima sat down   
to wait.  
As they sat down Tima said, "Kenichi, I thought you said that I had no parents."  
"I had to say that Tima. If I hadn't things might have gotten a little difficult." Kenichi   
replied.  
"Okay Kenichi," Tima answered, then lent against Kenichi. To two of them settled   
down to wait.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hey! Hey Kenichi!"  
"Uncle?" Kenichi stood up trying to find the source of the voice, "Uncle Shinsaku?"   
he called.  
"Kenichi over here!" a hat was showing over the milling crowd, a waving arm just   
right of it.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"…and so we came here." Kenichi finished telling his Uncle about his adventures   
since they had parted. He and Tima were sitting in the back of Shinsaku's car as they   
drove toward his office.  
"Haha, well Kenichi it seems you've been doing some growing up since I last saw   
you! And you Tima! I'm sure you've grown!" Shinsaku laughed.  
"I have," Tima replied, drawing forth further mirth from Shinsaku. For a moment   
Kenichi thought he detected a proud touch to her voice.  
Shinsaku turned around to look over the back of his seat, "I just have to pick   
something up from my office, then we'll go back to my house."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"My office is just down this hall," Shinsaku said as the three of them walked out of   
the elevator into a quiet corridor. The hallway was lined with doors, and a little way   
down was a door with a window in it. Written across the window was 'Ban Shinsaku,   
Private Detective'. In the corner of the window was a hole the size of a golf ball, and   
every now and then a draft would blow through, making a distracting whistling noise.   
The door also bore a weird stain about halfway down. Shinsaku pushed the door   
open.  
As they stepped in, Kenichi realised the rest of the office was in a similar state as the   
door.  
"'Scuse the mess," Shinsaku apologised, and with good reason. The office was a   
tribute to bad taste, disorganisation and apathy.  
First, the room's decoration. An old green carpet covered the floor. It must once   
have been thick and soft, but now it was worn threadbare, and where that wasn't the   
case the fibres had been stuck together and hardened by coffee stains. The walls were   
covered by a tasteless dirty cream coloured wallpaper that was crumbling away in   
places exposing either plaster or remnants of one of the many previous colour   
schemes. Set into the wall at the end of the room was a window which obviously   
hadn't been washed in a long time, if ever, that looked out on the brick wall of a   
neighbouring building.  
Below the window was a desk; one of those pinewood desks with the leather tops, and   
the three draws down one side, one of which had been left slightly open and the   
bottom part of a suspicious looking magazine was poking out. It was lit by a banker's   
lamp with a loose shade from one corner, and lying in the middle was a revolver with   
several bullets scattered around it along with a shoulder holster. In the opposite   
corner to the lamp was a precarious looking pile of papers that had obviously been   
ignored, sidestepped or forgotten about, but were probably all very important.   
Against the wall was a decidedly shifty looking electric heater, which kept making   
worrying clicking sounds, like a bomb with a broken timer. Beside the door was a hat   
stand where Shinsaku threw his hat and trench coat with such accuracy it hinted at a   
level of practice that was almost sad.  
"Uncle… you're office… it's…" Kenichi said in disbelief. This was the first time   
he'd ever been here.  
"Yeah great isn't it?" Shinsaku replied.  
"I never knew you were so untidy!"  
"Gotta keep with the trends Kenichi."  
"Trends…?" Kenichi repeated blankly.  
Shinsaku walked over to the desk, put on the shoulder holster, and picked up the   
revolver. With a flick of his wrist he exposed the magazine, then took six of the   
bullets and loaded them.  
Turning round he said, "Well that's tha-," but was cut off by Tima's terrified yell.  
"Tima!" Kenichi said, holding her against his chest. She was crying, and shivering so   
violently... He couldn't understand it; why had she suddenly become like this?  
"Kenichi… Kenichi…" Tima gasped. Shinsaku put the gun in its holster and walked   
quietly from the room putting on his hat and coat as he went. He had no idea what   
was the matter, but he did know it was best left to Kenichi.  
"Tima what's wrong?" Kenichi asked.  
"Your Uncle… Your Uncle…"  
"What is it Tima?" Kenichi said softly.  
"Your Uncle has a gun Kenichi!" Tima cried, clenching Kenichi's shirt tight in her   
fists, "Just like that boy…! Just like Rock!"  
"Oh…" Kenichi murmured. So that was it. Tima had seen his Uncle's gun and had   
associated it with that kid…  
"Why Kenichi? Why does your Uncle have a gun?"  
"Uncle doesn't use his gun in the same way as Rock Tima…" Kenichi told her,   
"Uncle uses his gun to protect. Rock used his gun to get rid of the people who were   
in his way."  
"But guns hurt people Kenichi!" Tima said looking up at him.  
"Sometimes if you want to protect someone… you have to use something more   
powerful."  
"But that sounds like war Kenichi! I thought you said war was something bad! Why   
is it different?" she asked.  
"It isn't different Tima. But sometimes there just isn't any choice…" Kenichi hated   
this. It felt as if his promise to keep Tima ignorant of war was slowly falling apart.  
"I don't like it Kenichi…" Tima said leaning against Kenichi.  
"I don't either Tima…"  
"I don't want to know anymore Kenichi."  
"All right," Kenichi said. Tima was afraid, and he hated it. All he could do   
now was try not to do any more damage.  
"Are you two alright?" Shinsaku asked walking into the room. The gun was hidden   
under his coat.  
"We're okay Uncle," Kenichi replied.  
"Good let's go, my house isn't far from here," Shinsaku said. He left the room with   
Kenichi beside him and Tima just behind them.  
"Uncle," Kenichi whispered.  
"Yeah?"  
"Tima's scared of guns."  
"Alright I'll keep it hidden."  
"Thanks," Kenichi dropped back alongside Tima. As they walked into the elevator   
she slipped her hand into his and smiled. Tima's ability to be happy as soon as a   
problem was resolved amazed Kenichi. He returned the smile.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"And here we are," Shinsaku said leading Kenichi and Tima through the door to his   
house. The impact of the difference was so great they almost felt it. The front door of   
the house led straight into the sitting room, which was pristine. The centre of the   
room was a platform raised a couple of inches above the hallway that came from the   
door, which in turn led to a set of stairs. At one end of the platform an unlit fireplace   
was set into the wall, its top bearing a clock, two candles, and a couple of photos.   
One was a shot of Kenichi sitting on a stool in his school uniform looking bored,   
another of a group people, three unknown men and women, with a young Kenichi up   
front looking pleased with himself and Shinsaku standing off to one side, with his   
arms folded and wearing his trench coat and hat trying to seem impressive but really   
just looking silly. The last was a close up of Kenichi and Shinsaku's faces, both   
grinning hugely and fighting to stay in the picture, and partly obscured by Kenichi's   
fingers that were making a 'V' shape.  
In the centre of the platform was a low square table, with a circular tablecloth and a   
cushion at each side. The floor was plain wood, and a door on the other side led into   
a kitchen.  
"U-Uncle… but your office was such a mess…" Kenichi was dumbstruck. Having   
seen his office, Kenichi was having trouble associating this house with his Uncle,   
even though he had lived here before he went to Metropolis.  
"I told you Kenichi, trends," Shinsaku replied, watching Tima wander around the   
room.  
"But what did you mean?" Kenichi asked. Tima was holding the picture of Kenichi and Shinsaku  
and giggling quietly.  
"I'm keeping up with the private detective trends. My office's a mess because I made   
it that way. It's a tradition, or an old charter, or something," Shinsaku said, hanging   
his trench coat in a nearby cupboard, along with his gun, "Come on have a seat," he   
gestured toward the table.  
When they had all sat down Shinsaku brought in some tea. He poured out a cup for   
each of them then sat down as well. Tima sat staring at her cup.  
"What's coming out of the cup?" Tima asked pointing to the steam coming off her   
tea.  
"Steam," Shinsaku answered, sipping his own.  
"What's steam?"  
"It comes from things that are hot," Kenichi said.  
"Hm…" Tima murmured picking up her cup, "It's warm…"  
"Be careful Tima," Kenichi said quickly, "Drink it slowly, like this," he demonstrated   
taking a small sip.  
"Like this?" Tima asked, copying him.  
"Yeah like that."  
"It's nice," Tima said with a sigh, "What is it?"  
Meanwhile Shinsaku was sitting looking at the two of them blankly. He chuckled to   
himself. They seemed like they were in there own little world on the other side of the   
table. Tima was sitting quietly, happy just to smile and listen as Kenichi explained to   
her what tea was. Still, this was important, so as much as he hated to he would have   
to interrupt them.  
"Hey you two," Shinsaku said.  
Kenichi stopped talking and turned to face him, "Yes Uncle?"  
"We have to talk about Tima," Shinsaku said sounding serious.  
"What do you mean?" Kenichi asked.  
"If Tima's going to be living here we'll have to make sure of a few things. The first   
and most important of which is this Tima. Don't tell anyone about how you were   
created, or about how you're different from normal humans."  
"Why not?" Tima asked.  
"Kenichi told me about his fight against the virus possessing your body on the   
Ziggurat. He said your body's strength was incredible. It seems your mind isn't the   
only part of you designed to be capable of killing."  
"N-no…" Tima gasped. Kenichi put an arm around her shoulder.  
"There are people who would take your power and use it. Therefore we should find a   
way of keeping your power a secret. I think it would be best to stick with Kenichi's   
idea about you being his cousin. "  
"But I can't kill…!" Tima yelled, turning to Kenichi and pleading to him, "Kenichi   
you know that don't you? I can't hurt people! Kenichi tell him!" she begged, tears   
running down her cheeks.  
"I can't Tima," Kenichi told Tima putting his arms around her, "But that doesn't   
mean you have to use your power. It will always be your choice, and since you would   
never use it, I suppose you can say you can't kill."  
Tima sat up and wiped her eyes, "So, if I don't use it Kenichi… I can't kill?"  
"Yes."  
Tima broke into a smile and fell against Kenichi again.  
"I'll leave the rest to you Kenichi," Shinsaku said taking the crockery into the kitchen.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Kenichi lay back on his bed.  
It had been three days, and things had gone more or less as Kenichi had expected. He   
was back at school and had started trying to reforge his friendships. This was proving   
difficult. It seemed Kenichi had changed so much during his time in Metropolis all   
his old friends were having trouble associating with him. Also, Kenichi was using all   
of his breaks trying to catch up on missed school work so that he could spend as much   
of his time at home as possible with Tima. Tima on the other hand was being   
schooled as well as possible by Shinsaku. The reason for this was, just as Kenichi had   
predicted, Tima couldn't get on in a school. In the single day she had been there   
Tima had been thrown out of class twice for impertinence, and gotten Kenichi beaten   
up when he tried to stop a group of older boys teasing her. The boys had been taking   
advantage of her naivety, asking questions and laughing when she couldn't answer.  
Kenichi had trouble remembering much of what had happened; why that was he had   
no idea. His battered and bruised body should have been enough of a reminder.   
Kenichi could remember up to when he had stepped between the boys and Tima,   
telling her to run. She had tried to stay at first but had left when told to run a second   
time. Everything else though was fuzzy up to the point where he had found himself   
standing bandaged up in the school nurses office. It was a miracle he wasn't seriously   
hurt. Nothing much else had happened. A police officer had visited to tell them that   
Tima was expected at the police station in a day's time, and war with Metropolis   
looked impossible to stop now. Kenichi had tried several times to reach his old   
terminal in Metropolis but to no avail. It was almost as if it wasn't there, so for now   
he was out of contact with Aki and Koh, although he didn't expect Koh would still be   
there.  
"…Kenichi…?" Tima asked quietly as she came into his bedroom with a tray bearing   
two slices of cake and drinks.  
"Oh, hello Tima," Kenichi greeted her sitting up.  
"Uncle Shinsaku asked me to bring you these." Tima said putting the tray on the floor   
by the bed. She had also come to know Shinsaku as Uncle.  
"Thanks!" Kenichi said as Tima gave him his piece of cake and put a glass of juice   
down nearby, "Hey, where are you going?"  
Tima stopped in the doorway, "Back downstairs." The tray still carried what was   
apparently her share.  
"Tima… aren't you going to eat up here?" Kenichi asked. It seemed like Tima had   
been trying to avoid him a little since the fight.  
"If you want me to Kenichi."  
Kenichi sighed, "…Tima, is there something you want to talk about?" Tima knelt   
down at the end of the bed.  
"I… Kenichi I'm really sorry!" Tima cried.  
"What about?" Kenichi asked.  
Tima looked up at him, "It's all my fault you were hurt! If I hadn't been with those   
boys this would never have happened…"  
"That's not true Tima!" Kenichi said, "I knew exactly what would happen from the   
start. If my injuries are anyone's fault they're mine."  
"But… why did you tell me to run away?"  
"I didn't want you to see," Kenichi smiled at Tima and took a sip of his juice, "Come   
on let's eat!"  
  
*********************************************************************************************  
  
I hope you guys liked it! Reviews would really be appreciated. As things stand the   
next chapter may be just a little while in coming. And I do know Rock's not as bad as   
he's made out to be in this chapter, but I doubt anyone ever told Kenichi that. He's   
only ever seen Rock's cold, ruthless side. Well, I'm going to get to work on the next   
chapter. I really hope this works out. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Metropolis.  
I think this is it. I'm sorry it took so long to write, and the story is still a little flat for   
most of the chapter, but at the end it really felt like something was starting.  
  
My thanks to:  
  
rockofmarduk: This ark's first reviewer.  
TiraGiallo: Thank you. I can't put my finger on it either, but yes you're right, there   
is something wrong with Shinsaku's character. Maybe I'll it'll eventually fade away   
as I write.  
Xalan: As ever my deepest thanks to you.  
Moro Stagsleap: Thanks. I'm glad you're still there. I promise I'll try and go a little   
lighter on the computer lingo this time. By the way, sorry about not making Kenichi   
react quite so strongly when Tima woke up back in the last story's final chapter. I   
wanted to, I really did, but it didn't feel quite right. Not after the two of them had   
already spent so long together, even with all of the difficulties they had gone through.   
Also, can you please tell me where you got the memoir book from?  
Zechs Merquise: Thanks for the review!  
  
Well then, please enjoy the story. As I said, things get better towards the end.  
******************************************************************************************************  
  
"Checkmate!" Tima said happily, placing the rook gently, but emphatically down.  
Kenichi sighed, "You win again Tima." This was the fifteenth time he'd lost to her,   
he'd only won once in the first game while Tima had still been learning, and Kenichi   
doubted he would ever again. Her skill in chess was unbelievable. No matter what   
move he made against Tima, Kenichi always found himself sitting in a trap of some   
sort.  
"Kenichi! Tima! It's time to go!"  
"Coming Uncle Shinsaku!" they called in unison.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"I hope this works out…" Shinsaku muttered gruffly.  
"Where are we going?" Tima asked.  
"We're going to the police station," Kenichi answered. He wasn't sure about telling   
her the rest.  
"Why Kenichi?"  
"There's someone there who wants to ask you some questions," Shinsaku answered   
for Kenichi.  
They were driving through the streets of Tokyo in Shinsaku's car, a small white hover   
vehicle shaped like a classic American automobile. They were on their way to the   
police station, as Tima had been requested to come in for questioning. Kenichi and   
Shinsaku had their misgivings. How would the officer questioning Tima respond   
when she answered 'I don't know,' to all of his questions, and what if she told them   
about who she was? She had promised not to but police questioning could be pretty   
forceful sometimes, as Kenichi had learned once when he had acted as a witness to a   
crime after helping his Uncle on one of his investigations.  
"What do they want to ask me?"  
Kenichi sighed, he might as well tell her, "They want to ask you about Metropolis.   
Just do your best to answer their questions,"  
"Okay Kenichi," Tima said smiling.  
  
* * * * *  
  
As they walked into the reception area Kenichi thought back on the day they had last   
come here. It had certainly been interesting. Kenichi silently reaffirmed his decision,   
he loved Tima. He glanced at her, and catching Tima's eye received a warm smile.  
"Uh… I'm Ban Shinsaku. I'm here with Saito Tima who was asked to come in for   
questioning," Shinsaku said walking up to the reception desk.  
"One moment please," the robot attending the reception desk said, "Ah yes, go up to   
the fifth floor, then straight down the hall to room one three one."  
"Thank you," Shinsaku said turning away. Japanese robots weren't quite as good as   
the ones in Metropolis but they were pretty close.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Here we are," Kenichi said as they stopped outside the door to the office they had   
been directed to. He mentally compared this place with his uncle's office building.   
The contrast was huge. Everything here was so clean, a model of efficiency and   
cleanliness. Shinsaku knocked on the door.  
"Come in," a voice called from inside. Kenichi, Tima and Shinsaku did so.  
"Good morning," a man said standing up behind his desk. Once again, the office was   
clean, tidy and tasteful, "You must be Ban-san, and that must make you Tima," he   
said looking at Tima where she was peeking from behind Kenichi. He was tall, and   
handsome in a statuesque sort of way. His face was smiling, but Kenichi couldn't   
shake the feeling there was something not quite right about this man, "I'm Seijiro   
Mori."  
"Why exactly do you need to speak to Tima?" Shinsaku asked.  
"We are trying to find out as much as we can about the city. Those who have lived   
there normally know more than you can find out just by looking at maps," was Mori's   
answer.  
"Well, I warn you Tima doesn't know very much. She was hurt when the Ziggurat   
collapsed and her memory's pretty fuzzy."  
"Thank you. If you don't mind I have to ask you to wait outside."  
"But-" Kenichi started to protest but stopped when Shinsaku nudged him.  
"Don't worry Tima, we'll be right outside," Shinsaku said with as a smile as he and   
Kenichi left.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Why'd you stop me Uncle?" Kenichi asked once they were outside with door shut.  
"I didn't want you causing a scene," Shinsaku lent back against the wall and pulled   
down the brim of his hat.  
"What do we do if they find out about Tima?" Kenichi joined him. Shinsaku didn't   
say anything.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Tima stood quietly looking at the door, "Now then," Mori said walking forward,   
"Why don't you sit down Tima-san?" he asked indicating a chair in front of his desk.   
Tima quietly did so. Mori pressed a button on his computer's keyboard. A   
microphone on the end of his desk whined for a moment then was silent.  
"Now, for the recording, what is your name?"  
"Tima," she answered.  
"And your second name?"  
"What's a second name?"  
"Hm," Mori lent over to the microphone and said "Saito."  
"When were you born?"  
"I don't know."  
"Where did you live before coming to Japan?"  
"I don't know."  
Mori was becoming a little frustrated, "How did you first come to be in Metropolis?"  
"I was there when I woke up," Tima said, becoming a little confused.  
"Who is currently governing Metropolis?"  
"I… don't know,"  
"Why was there a rebellion? I thought Metropolis didn't have any civil problems."  
"The people living in zone two were unhappy,"  
"Why were they unhappy?"  
"I… I'm not sure… Atlas said something about robots taking their jobs but…" Tima   
hadn't been expecting all these difficult questions.  
"What happened to that huge tower they were building? Why did it suddenly   
explode?"  
"I don't know," Tima answered in confusion, "The strange man with the big nose   
made me sit on the throne, and Kenichi pulled me off. And… and something in my   
mind made me try to hurt him, and then I fell but… but…"  
The man with the big nose? Was this talking about Duke Red? "But what Tima?"  
"Kenichi tried to save me but I fell…"  
"How did you survive?" Mori was confused. This couldn't be true, but he felt sure   
Tima wasn't lying.  
"I-I don't know, I fell, and then I woke up in that nice room with Kenichi and Koh,   
and I couldn't talk properly."  
"Who's Koh?"  
"Kenichi says he helped save me."  
"How did he save you?"  
"I don't know…"  
This boy seemed to figure a lot in Tima's way of thinking, "How did you meet   
Kenichi?" Mori asked.  
"There was a fire… and… Kenichi saved me."  
"It sounds to me like Kenichi's been telling you a lot of things Tima," Mori said   
thoughtfully.  
"Oh he has!" Tima said excitedly, "He taught me how to speak, and write, and…"  
"How could he have done that?" Mori asked, becoming annoyed, "You only met half   
a year ago!"  
"I… I just listened to him and learned…" Tima answered feeling insecure.  
Mori's expression softened, "Listen Tima-san, I know Kenichi told you what to say to   
me, but he isn't here right now. You can tell me everything. Who are you really?"  
"I'm Tima!" Tima said.  
"Okay then Tima-san, why did you come to Japan?"  
"Kenichi said Metropolis was too dangerous,"  
"Forget Kenichi," Mori said sharply, "Tell me the truth!"  
"I am telling the truth!" Tima cried.  
"Fine, then where were you born?"  
"I don't know. I woke up in doctor Laughton's laboratory,"  
"Who's Doctor Laughton?"  
"The man who made me-," Tima cut herself off too late.  
"What do you mean made you?" Mori asked in annoyance, "Tell me the truth!"  
"But I am telling the truth!" Tima said desperately. This man thought Kenichi had   
told her to lie, and she had to prove to him that he hadn't.  
"You are not!" Mori almost shouted.  
"I am! Kenichi isn't a liar! Doctor Laughton made me! I'm a robot with a human   
heart! I can prove it!" Tima didn't care anymore. She had to prove Kenichi wasn't   
lying. She turned her head and held her hair back, turning back her ear and revealing   
a small metal socket.  
The rest happened quite quickly. Mori managed to extract from Tima all of that she   
knew about herself, from why she had been created to the immense strength she had   
by skilfully drawing her on with accusations about Kenichi. She knew she was   
breaking her promise, but she just couldn't bear to let anyone talk about Kenichi so   
horribly.  
  
* * * * *  
  
It had been fifteen minutes. Kenichi and Shinsaku were still waiting outside the   
room, which they had discovered was sound proofed when Kenichi had tried to listen   
through the door. He was becoming ever more fretful, and Shinsaku kept having to   
stop him bursting into the room. It was then that door exploded open, and Tima   
charged out and hid behind Kenichi.  
"Tima what…?" Kenichi asked as she buried her face in his jacket.  
A muffled "Kenichi…" came from behind him. Mori walked through the door.  
"What happened?" Shinsaku asked him.  
"Tima's told me some very interesting things," Mori answered with an odd look in his   
eye.  
"Tima… what did you tell him?" Kenichi asked Tima having extricated her from his   
back and holding her by her shoulders.  
"I'm sorry Kenichi!" Tima sobbed, unable to look him in the eye, "He said you had   
told me lies and I had to prove you hadn't, so I told him… told him I was…" Tima   
started to cry again. Kenichi put his arms around her and murmured, "It's okay…"   
Shinsaku shook his head; they both knew what had happened.  
Desperately trying to find an excuse, Shinsaku said, "Tima always was an imaginative   
child Seijiro-san. I'm sure she just made up whatever she said as an answer to your   
questions."  
"On the contrary Ban-san, Tima-san was very detailed," Mori said with an unpleasant   
smile, "I'm going to forward this to someone of higher rank, expect a visit soon. Just   
so you don't decide to make any unexpected trips I'm placing you all under house   
arrest. Oh and Tima? You convinced me, Kenichi isn't a liar," he walked away   
laughing, leaving the Kenichi and Shinsaku glaring angrily at his back.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What now Uncle?" Kenichi asked. They'd been silent since the three of them had   
left the police station, and he felt awkward speaking. The car was oppressive.  
"We go home," Shinsaku answered in a restrained voice.  
"We're not going to do anything?"  
"What is there to do?" Shinsaku said sharply.  
Tima lowered her eyes, "What will happen Kenichi?"  
"I…" Kenichi wasn't sure he should tell her what he was afraid might happen, "I   
don't know Tima," if he was right and they were going to try to take Tima away, he   
didn't want her worrying about it.  
"Then why are you sad?"  
"Don't worry. What do you want to do when we get home?" Kenichi asked smiling.  
  
* * * * *  
  
It was a day later, and Kenichi and Tima, out of shear boredom at being stuck indoors   
had gone up into the loft in the hopes of finding something to do. In the end they had   
found Shinsaku's old games consoles, and with a little work Kenichi had fixed the   
plugs to work with the modern wall sockets. There was something really nice about   
playing a game through such a cumbersome instrument as a joy pad, a sort of feeling   
of disconnection. Somehow it just seemed more fun than the current holographic   
games. At one point Shinsaku had come in and joined them. In a matter of seconds   
he had put all of there efforts to shame, and hadn't been very graceful about it.   
Before he had left he had patted Kenichi on the head and said it was only because of   
experience, but the sniggering which had drifted back to them from down the hall   
suggested otherwise.  
It seemed Tima's abilities in chess did not extend to videogames. Every game they   
had played Kenichi had one almost every time. Interestingly, Shinsaku seemed to   
have had a penchant for the less orthodox kinds of games. Novelty puzzlers, multi-  
player role-plays and such. One game they had both really enjoyed was a strange   
little platform type game in which the players would fly around a dream world. But   
once again Kenichi came out on top with roughly a hundred times Tima score. Of   
course he occasionally let Tima win, but it looked like they had discovered Tima's   
weakness.  
"It's not fair," Tima pouted, "You must be cheating."  
"Come on Tima, surely you don't believe that!" Kenichi laughed.  
"No I suppose not…" she sighed.  
Grinning Kenichi put an arm around Tima's shoulders. She looked at Kenichi and   
smiled, then lent her head against him.  
Given time to think Tima could do anything, but she just couldn't seem to adapt to a   
constantly changing situation.  
Kenichi's thoughts were interrupted by his Uncle's voice calling them downstairs.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Tima, this is Shuishiro Hito-san," Shinsaku said gesturing to a man who had just   
walked into the house. His voice was cold and held absolutely no congeniality. Even   
through his polite words Shinsaku's emotions were obvious, and Kenichi wasn't   
making any attempt to disguise his dislike of the man either. If looks could bore holes   
in people, between the two of them they could have turned the man into Swiss cheese   
in seconds. Tima stood alongside Kenichi wearing a confused look. She couldn't   
understand why there was so much tension between them.  
"Hello," Tima said bowing slightly.  
"Hello Tima," Shuishiro said smiling and showing only the slightest uncomfortable   
reaction to Kenichi and Shinsaku.  
"Why don't we go into the sitting room?" Shinsaku asked. He and Kenichi walked   
quietly away, Tima quickly running to catch up. Shuishiro followed them.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Shuishiro took a sip of his tea, then set it down, "By the looks on your faces, I   
suppose you two know why I'm here?"  
Shinsaku and Kenichi both nodded mutely.  
"Why are you here?" Tima asked.  
"I'm here to make you a request Tima-san," Shuishiro said.  
"Yes?" Tima prompted.  
"I'm in charge of a research of station and I'd like you to come back with me. We'd   
like to learn more about you. You are an amazing creation, I'd expect nothing less   
from the masterpiece of the cybernetics genius Joshua Laughton."  
"You knew about Laughton?" Shinsaku asked, ceasing his emotionless stare.  
"He used to be a military scientist before that unpleasant business with the organ   
trafficking. We kept tabs on him after that of course, if he ever came up with   
anything useful we wouldn't have wanted to see it wasted. Truth be told we've   
known about Tima-san's existence since a short time after Laughton started work on   
her, however we all thought she along with all the prototypes were lost in the fire. So   
to find that Tima-san, the finished design still exists is a great discovery. From what   
the preliminary designs taken by one of our infiltrators showed us, you have a   
tremendous amount of potential Tima-san."  
"What does he mean Kenichi?" Tima asked looking worried.  
Kenichi was clenching and unclenching his fists in anger, "He's saying you'd make a   
powerful weapon."  
"But I'm not a weapon!" Tima shouted standing up suddenly.  
"I'm not asking you to fight Tima-san, all I want you to do is come with me for a few   
days so that we can find out more about you," Shuishiro said placatingly.  
"What will you do with what you learn from Tima?" Kenichi asked.  
"I'm sorry. That information is classified."  
"I see," Shinsaku said, "So your intentions aren't entirely honourable. What's it   
going to be? An army of Timas? All of them capable of killing hundreds of soldiers   
before going down?"  
"As I said, I'm not allowed to disclose that information-,"  
"How old will they be?" Shinsaku shouted standing up and hitting his leg against the   
table spilling the tea and eliciting a frightened squeak from Tima, "How old will you   
make them? Children I suppose to save on materials. Imagine it Kenichi! An army   
of children!"  
"Now hold on-!" Shuishiro protested.  
"How about programming?! Will they just be mindless dolls? Or perhaps you'll give   
them personalities for better fighting ability?" Shinsaku kicked aside the table, and   
Tima by now utterly confused by the change in Shinsaku burst into tears and hid   
behind Kenichi, "How much will you let them know?! I guess only enough to fight   
huh?! You'll send children perhaps five minutes into their lives out onto the   
battlefield?!"  
"Ban-san! I don't know anything but-!" Shuishiro was cut off as Shinsaku took him   
by the throat.  
"Uncle-!" Kenichi shouted.  
"Uncle Shinsaku stop it!" Tima yelled running forward tugging at his shirt.  
"Were you even planning on bringing Tima back?!" Shinsaku said suddenly calm and   
cold. Shuishiro was starting to choke.  
"Yes…" he gasped, "Yes, in three days time…"  
Shinsaku let go and Shuishiro fell to the floor in a heap holding his neck and   
breathing hard.  
"You had better," he said darkly.  
"Uncle, you're not serious-!" Kenichi protested, realising Shinsaku planned to let   
them take Tima.  
"Why Uncle Shinsaku?" Tima asked, her voice shaky.  
Shinsaku turned to face them, and then, unable to look them in the eyes said, "I'm   
sorry Kenichi, Tima… He's got a sidearm in his coat."  
"Yes and it looks like you made an intelligent decision," Shuishiro having recovered   
himself, he was now standing with the gun in his hand, "If you had refused I was   
under orders to take Tima by force, and to kill the two of you if you had tried to stop   
me. And by the way, don't try anything silly, there's a small unit of soldiers waiting   
for me outside."  
"Kill…" Tima repeated quietly, "I'll go with you. I don't want you to hurt Kenichi."  
"That's a good girl." Shuishiro said, then turning back to Kenichi and Shinsaku,   
"Don't try filing any complaints. By law robots have no rights, and since you   
illegally registered Tima as a human, she has no owner and is therefore state property.   
You're lucky I don't have you both arrested right now."  
"You… bastard…" Shinsaku growled. He and Kenichi could only watch as Shuishiro   
took Tima's hand and walked out of the house with her. Just before the door closed   
Tima looked back at Kenichi over her shoulder, her eyes filled with poorly concealed fear, her face   
streaked with tears, and then the door was shut. A moment later a vehicle could be   
heard pulling away.  
Shinsaku slowly relaxed his body, and then let his head hang. He had failed to protect   
her… Kenichi on the other hand reacted much more strongly.  
"Rrrr…" the sound came from the back of his throat, his whole body was tense as he   
walked up to the door.  
"DAMN IT!" he screamed, bringing his fist down on the door so hard it jarred his arm   
right up to his shoulder. Clutching his arm, Kenichi looked darkly at the door for a   
few seconds, and fell to his knees. From the way his body was shaking and from his   
unsteady breathing, Shinsaku could tell he was crying.  
"damn it…" Kenichi whispered, his tears forming dark spots on the carpet, "damn…"  
  
********************************************************************************************************  
Well that's it. Thanks for reading, and please review! Sorry this chapter took so long   
coming! You know, that's the first time I've ever used anything stronger than a very weak curse.  
Oh, and I'm sorry about the weird way I responded to your reviews. I've been reading a book   
called MYST: The Book Of Ti'Anna, and I think it's officious style's started to rub off on me.  
Seeya in the next chapter! ^_^ 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See chapter 2

Sorry it took so long everyone.  Writing's been a little difficult lately, and due to an unforeseen incident I had to start the chapter over.  Anyway, my thanks to:

Moro Stagsleap

Xalan

rockofmarduk

untitled

Zechs Merquise

Inu Adrienn

Here's the chapter, 'hope you all like it!

*********************************************************************

_Why?  Why does it always have to be Tima?_

Kenichi was sitting on his bed in a patch of sunlight.  The sun seemed inappropriate for his mood as it streamed in through his skylight window.  His bedroom was built into the roof of the house, and afforded the best view of any of the rooms.

I'm never the one who gets in trouble.  Tima's always put in danger, and then I do my best to pick up the pieces…

As Kenichi raised his head to look across the room, he noticed the chessboard in the centre of the floor, the pieces still arrayed across it, twenty-nine white pieces surrounding the lonely black King.  He could almost see Tima now, sitting behind the board, smiling down on her force.

And now she was in the hands of an unknown group of people.  Did they know how much power they held?   Of course they did, Shuishiro had said so himself.  They had taken everything Kenichi had brought with him, his journals, his diagrams, even that backup of intconovr.  Kenichi had disassembled the virus though, removed everything but it's personality matrix and base protocols, but still…  If they used that, he would have no one to blame but himself, and Kenichi couldn't bear to think what it might do.

I thought this was over…  I thought when I saved her, Tima and I could just be happy.

Would that ever be true?  Tima had been taken from him once again, this time perhaps to a worse fate than last, and as ever Kenichi was powerless to help her.

*   *   *   *   *

The room was stark.  The unfriendly strip lights leaving almost nowhere in shadow, and in places shining almost blinding off the white painted walls.

"How is the Tima unit?" Shuishiro asked the young woman standing in front of his desk.

"Just as you left her Shuishiro-san," the young woman answered.  She had short brown hair and grey eyes, offset by a pale complexion, "She hasn't said anything to anyone since she arrived here, she just kneels on the floor with her back to door and never moves.  One of the guards told me he thought he heard Tima-san whisper someone's name at one point, but whatever it was was so quiet he said he couldn't be sure."

"Thank you Kinasato-san.  You are dismissed."

"Shuishiro-san, may I ask you something?" Kinasato asked turning around in the doorway.

"If you must," Shuishiro looked irritated.

"… Don't you think it might be a good idea to give Tima-san a proper room?"

"Why?"

"Well, isn't it unfair to leave her in an empty storage room?"

"Why should we waste one of the volunteer's rooms on a robot?"

"But she's not-," Kinasato started.

"Are you questioning me?" Shuishiro looked blackly at her.

"I… no sir…"

"Tomorrow morning we'll connect her to the matrix."

Kinasato walked quietly from the room and shut the door behind her.

*   *   *   *   *

"Tima-san?"

Tima jumped, it had been silent for so long, and that quiet voice had pierced the silence like an explosion.  She turned to look over her shoulder.  A woman was standing in the doorway.

"Is there anything I can get you?" Kinasato asked.

"No…" Tima said, turning away again.

Kinasato walked into the room and knelt down beside Tima, "I'm sorry, I asked if you could be moved somewhere nicer."

"Shuishiro said no didn't he?"

"There aren't any other rooms available," she could hardly tell her the truth.  Tima simply remained silent.

"Are you sure I can't get you anything?  When did you last eat?"

"When I had breakfast with Uncle Shinsaku and Kenichi…" as Tima said Kenichi's name her voice cracked and she started to cry.  Kinasato gently put her arms around her.

"Come on now, it's alright."

"I want to go home…" Tima sniffed.

"I know Tima-san, and you'll only have to stay a couple more days," Kinasato said patting her back, "I'll get you some food.  My name's Yumi by the way."

*   *   *   *   *

"I'm sorry, it's not much but it's all the cafeteria had left.  It is midnight after all," Yumi said as she put a sandwich and a bottle of water down before Tima.

"Thank you." Tima said without really looking around.

"Tomorrow you'll be connected to the laboratory's computer matrix," Yumi said, "Shuishiro-san didn't want you to be told before hand but…" she looked at the floor, "I know what happened to you in Metropolis.  Don't worry, it's not going to be anything like that."

Tima was silent for a short while, then, "…How do you open this?" she asked holding up the sandwich packet.  Yumi laughed and opened it for her.

*   *   *   *   *

"… Tima…" Kenichi whispered to himself for the thousandth time as he sat looking out of the classroom window across the playground.

He half-heard somebody nearby whisper to their neighbour, "Hey, what's up with Kenichi-kun?"

"'You remember that weird girl that came to school with him last week?  I heard it's got something to do with her."

"What?  Like an argument or something?"

"I dunno.  I tried asking but he isn't very approachable when he's like that."

"Yeah…"

"Ban-san are you daydreaming again?" the teacher's stern voice brought Kenichi back to his senses.

"N-no sensei," he stammered.

Kenichi's teacher sighed, what ever was wrong in Kenichi's home life, it had to be bad…

*   *   *   *   *

"Yes… yes I've tried talking to him…  No it didn't make any difference," Shinsaku had the telephone to his ear when Kenichi arrived home.

"Uncle Shinsaku, I'm home!" he called.

"Alright, thank you."

Kenichi walked into the front room, "Who was that Uncle?"

"Your tutor Kenichi," Shinsaku answered turning to face him.

Kenichi gulped, he'd been half expecting this.

"It seems you haven't been doing well in school lately,"

"But Uncle Shinsaku I-"

"No buts Kenichi!  Tima's going to be fine, and she wouldn't want you torturing yourself like this."

"Yes Uncle Shinsaku…"

Shinsaku grinned and ruffled Kenichi's hair, "That's it Kenichi.  Just another two days."

*   *   *   *   *

The room was full of people in plain, grey suits, most of them men, and all sitting behind workstations arranged in nine circles going down to the floor in steps.  Low down in the centre of the circular room's floor on a pedestal with innumerable cables going from it to an array of electronic equipment in the ceiling was a kind of egg shaped glass pod sitting in a thick bronze coloured metal dish.  At the top of one of the four staircases that rose from the floor like the spokes of wheel stood Tima and Shuishiro.  Shuishiro was wearing a similar suit to the rest of the room's occupants, and Tima was wearing a plain white nightgown that reached to just above her knees.  Every now and then she would shift her feet when she couldn't bear to hold still on the cold floor any longer.

"Where are we?" Tima asked, shivering a little.

"This is a test room for electronic experiments." Shuishiro replied without taking his eyes off the pod.

"What is that?" Tima pointed to the pod.  There was something strangely familiar about it.

"A machine we developed from Dr. Laughton's notes, designed to interface with your body.  It will connect it directly to the laboratory's computer matrix."

"Why?"

Shuishiro's expression never changed.  He just stood staring forward, answering any questions Tima asked, "You know why you're here.  We will use this machine to extract as much information about you as we possibly can."

A short time later, just as Tima was starting to find the temperature in the room really unpleasant, Yumi joined them.

"We're ready now Shuishiro-san."

"Good," Shuishiro turned to Tima, "Tima, go with Kinasato-san."  He walked over behind one of the workstations and sat down.

"Come on Tima," Yumi said walking down the steps.  Tima followed, walking quietly behind her.  When they reached the pod, Yumi said, "Once you're in the pod several cables will attach themselves to you.  It may hurt a little but not for long, since as soon as they're attached you'll be put to sleep.  The air inside the pod will be very cold so that the organic parts of your body won't do anything if there's a problem in the system.  Understand?"

"I… I think so…" Tima answered nervously.

"Before the pod door shuts give me your gown.  It'll get in the way of the cables otherwise."

"Yes Yumi," Tima walked up the steps into the pod.  The change in temperature seemed almost like a wall as she climbed in.  Shivering violently Tima pulled off her gown and Yumi took it from her, then touched a panel beside the opening and the door slid shut.  Instantly the glass walls steamed up and metal tubes began to extend from them.  Tima tried to turn around but she felt tired and her body seemed sluggish to respond.  As the tubes stopped an inch from her skin, one in the centre of her chest, at the side of her neck, at her side just below her ribs, and one at her hip, a metal arm descended from the ceiling and pushed back her ear, then inserted a metal pin into the socket behind it.  As a click sounded from the pin a wave of numbness ran down her spine for a second making Tima feel like she was about to vomit.

Through the haze that had come over her mind Tima could vaguely hear voices outside, "External power supply engaged, internal fuel supply stop detected.  Engaging uplink in five seconds…"

She heard Yumi call, "Brace yourself Tima, here it comes."

"Engaging!"

Tima yelled out in pain as beams lanced from the tubes, instantly burning away the skin before them and revealing sockets that had been concealed beneath it.  From each of the tubes then extended cables that connected themselves to the now exposed openings.  A moment later she found her eyes closing, and the last thing Tima heard was a voice saying, "Sleep mode engaged, all non… systems… silen… op-"

*   *   *   *   *

"What do you think?" a voice asked from beside her.

"Hm…?" she murmured questioningly.

"Tima are you alright?"

Tima looked around her.  She was sitting on a stone bench in an open, arched hallway looking out over a landscape of fields that stretched as far as the eye could see, and behind it all was a beautiful, deep red sunset that bathed everything in a pastel crimson.  A soft breeze was gently catching at her hair.

"Tima?"

"What?" she asked looking to her left.  Beside her sat Kenichi, who sighed and shook his head a little, his messy hair waving slightly.  At his belt was attached a short black wooden tube of sorts, from the end of which protruded a handle.

"What do you think of the sunset Tima?"

Tima looked out across the landscape again, "It's beautiful,"

"I knew you'd like it.  But are you really all right Tima?  It's like you were in a world of your own."

"I don't really know," Tima said smiling softly.

"That's just like you Tima!" Kenichi laughed.  Tima made a satisfied noise and leant her head on Kenichi's shoulder, closing her eyes.  She felt Kenichi gently take her hand in his.  They sat quietly for a short time and then Kenichi broke the silence, saying, "It's been a long time since we've been like this."

"Yes…" Tima said sitting up and looking into Kenichi's eyes for a little.  After a few seconds she turned to one side, retrieving an oil covered stone and a triangular piece of metal with a complex collection of leather straps at one side which she placed carefully on her lap and began to rub along its edge with the stone using her free hand.

"Do you carry that whetstone with you everywhere?" Kenichi laughed again, "One of these days you'll rub those katar away to nothing!"

"I have to keep them sharp Kenichi, or they might fail when I really need them," Tima replied, "Besides, you're just as bad with that tachi!"

"Heh, you caught me."

"Of course! I know you better than anyone," they both laughed for a little, eventually just going quiet.  Kenichi smiled and brushed back Tima's hair, making her look up in surprise and catch her breath.  For a moment they sat staring into one another's eyes, and then Kenichi started to slowly bring his face close to hers.  "…Kenichi… I…" Tima started to whisper.

Tima opened her eyes, and then quickly shut them again.  The light was painfully bright.  Even closing them didn't seem to help, and her arms wouldn't move to cover them.  Her head hurt, and a tingling feeling as if she was being brushed with thousands of pins kept moving around her body.  She groaned quietly.

"Your awake," a voice said from somewhere beside her.

"What…?"

"It's me, Yumi.  Don't worry, you should be fine soon."

Yumi was right, after a few seconds Tima's eyes got used to the light again and she was able to move a little.  Tima sat up slowly.

Looking down at her legs Tima said quietly, "It was a dream…"

"I hope it was a pleasant one," Yumi smiled, "The experiment didn't go very well."

Tima didn't respond.  She was a little depressed to have found it was just dream, especially after waking up on the bare floor of the storage room again, and this time wearing nothing but that nightgown she'd been given.  Tima shivered, "It's so cold…"

"Shuishiro-san says you don't need anything but that gown." Yumi said angrily.

"Why?"

"Apparently you won't get sick if you're cold.  He refuses to believe you're anything more than a robot.  He won't even let me give you anything except that old blanket," she gestured toward a thin, rough blanket on which Tima was sitting.

Yumi sighed and started to explain what had happened during the experiment.

"A short time after you fell asleep and we'd started to look around your programming your mind rebelled.  We couldn't get any further than requesting information before it sent a massive burst of bad data and cut us off.  It's like your mind's designed to fight off outside access.  What we don't understand is how your friend Kenichi was able to do what he did."

Tima didn't understand much of what Yumi was telling her, but from what she could understand, she guessed that even while she was asleep she had made it hard for them.  It was strange though.  The tingling and numbness had left her body now, except for in a few places.  She placed her hand against her chest where the feeling was strongest, and gasped when it touched something hard.  Looking down the neck of her gown Tima covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stop the sudden that moved up her throat.  A moment later she was violently sick, barely avoiding ruining her bedding.  There, in a circular cut in the centre of her chest surrounded at its edges by a hard reddish-brown ring was a hole.

"Oh!" Yumi exclaimed realising what Tima had found.  She quickly took the nightgown's neck from Tima's hand and pulled it back over the socket, "You shouldn't look at that."

Tima was dead silent.  She hadn't even moved.

"Tima-san…?" Yumi said gently putting her hand on Tima's shoulder.

Tima began to shake a little, and then burst into tears.

"You've never seen yourself like this before, have you?" Yumi asked sympathetically.  Tima mutely shook her head.

"Don't worry, the skin will grow back."

"I… I knew…" Tima choked, "I always knew I wasn't human… but to see… to see..."

Yumi sat with Tima for a while until she had recovered a little, then said, "Tomorrow Shuishiro-san's going to try again.  Goodnight Tima." Yumi stood up and walked out of the room closing the door behind her.  A moment later there was click and everything was dark.  Tima bundled herself up as best she could in her blanket and after laying crying and shivering for a long time, finally fell asleep.

*   *   *   *   *

"…were you on duty in B wing last night?"

"Yeah I was.  Someone was crying for hours, I was really spooked.  Most of the unit think it's that little girl we've been seeing lately."

"I heard Shuishiro's been keeping her in that empty storage room.  'Funny way to treat one of the volunteer subjects if you ask me."

"Apparently she's not a volunteer."

"What?"

"Well when Shui- look out here they come!"

The two guards snapped to attention as Shuishiro, Tima and Yumi came around a bend in the corridor.

"I suppose Kinasato-san told you what happened yesterday?" Shuishiro asked.

"Yes." Tima answered without looking at him.

"However she does not know how I am planning to gain access to you," Shuishiro said.  Something in his tone made both Tima and Yumi uncomfortable.  Feeling colder than ever, Tima hugged herself as they walked into the laboratory.

*   *   *   *   *

Once again Yumi helped Tima into the pod, "Don't worry Tima.  The cables won't have to hurt you this time," she said as she took Tima's gown from her.  She nodded silently as the door closed with a hiss.

Once again Tima went through the uncomfortable procedure with the cables, and then everything around her went black.

"Shuishiro-san…" Yumi said apprehensively, "Tima hasn't entered sleep mode."

"I know," Shuishiro responded in a flat tone.

A moment later everyone in the room but Shuishiro jumped as a scream echoed from the pod, and then was suddenly cut off.

*********************************************************************

I'll work on the next chapter as fast as possible.  I once again apologise if Ban-san is out of character.  I just can't seem to get him right.  Also this chapter was in places a bit of an experiment, do you prefer it this way, or how it was when I was presenting it in .txt format?


	4. Chapter 4

Finally!  It took so long to get this chapter finished.  As ever thanks to:

The Authoress (Shunsaku's hard…  Is he any better yet?)

Moro Stagsleap (Ack!  I've been misspelling Shunsaku's name for two arks!)

Kenichi's Gal (Shunsaku's a pain in the neck…)

KT (I was pretty late on the update, I hope you didn't…)

James Daly (Sorry about the wait ^^;)

On with the fourth chapter!

**************************************************************************************************************************************

Kenichi slowly sat up in his bed, the moonlight throwing his features into stark contrast, "A dream… it was just a dream…" he said in relief, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"'You alright Kenichi?  That was a real shout," Shunsaku poked his head around the door, looking concerned.

"I'm okay Uncle Shunsaku, I just had a bad dream."

Shunsaku walked into the room and gave Kenichi one of the 'It's Tima again, isn't it?' looks he'd been perfecting recently.  His dressing gown made him look very noble standing there in the skylight's moonbeam, although the moustache did somewhat detract from the effect.  Trying to distract himself from his inexplicable fear, Kenichi tried to visualise Shunsaku sitting before a roaring fire, a shogi board balanced expertly in his lap, but the unrealistic vision of his uncle as a wisened old man was just to difficult to maintain, especially when fighting against his other, less humorous thoughts, which seemed to worm their way into his mind without permission.

"I don't remember anything of it, but… it really scared me." Kenichi said without looking up.  The sheets were bundled up where he was gripping them tightly in his fists.

"Goodnight Kenichi," Shunsaku closed the door.  Once he was outside he sighed and shook his head.

_He'd better keep his promise._

*   *   *   *   *

"What happened?!" Yumi shouted to a technician on the opposite side of the room.

"There's an alien program in the pod's matrix!" he called back from where he was standing, "It's blocking all our scans, I think it's a virus!"

Yumi turned pale, "Shuishiro-san…  What did you…?" she said quietly.

Shuishiro didn't respond.  He just sat staring calmly at the readout on his workstation's screen, his head resting on his interlocked fingers.  Arrayed across it were several bars, each gradually filling from the right.

"Shut it down!" Yumi shouted, "Bring her back!"

"We can't!  All external input's been cut off!" another technician replied.  The room descended into chaos, with people running between workstations and shouting to one another.  The amount of noise was almost deafening.

"The virus is attacking the Tima unit's security protocols via all ports.  It's trying to cause a stack overflow!"

"Protection lost, the virus has complete control!"

"Automatic network lockout has been initiated!" someone yelled as the relay cables attached to the ceiling disconnected themselves with a loud hiss, slowly being pulled backwards by the massive gantries that held them in place, "Virus containment in effect."

"Everybody quiet!" Yumi practically screamed.  In the stunned silence that followed she asked with forced calm, "What's happening to Tima?"

A young man with dark brown hair walked over, a serious look on his face, "The virus has taken over all but the Tima unit's emotive systems, which have set up a kind of one way connection to the rest of the body.  They can't do anything more than make requests to the rest of the body, and should be secure against the virus for a while at least.  It has switched the shell back to internal power and is now charging the fuel systems up to maximum capacity.  It looks like it's going to activate all the subsystems which aren't normally available to the AI as well."

A woman across the room stood up. "I've managed to scan it," she said, "Virus type is targeted, virus name is 'intconovr.tac'.  It's written itself into the unit's logic system's management protocols."

"So it was you," Yumi said turning to Shuishiro.  She wasn't angry; she was too shocked to be angry.

"Yes," he said without moving.  All but one of the bars was now flashing full.  The empty bar bore a warning symbol beside it.

At that moment the pod's door slid open and Tima stumbled out wearing a confused expression.    Yumi immediately rushed down and pulled Tima's gown over her as she stood looking blankly around her.

"I'll take it from here Kinasato-san," Shuishiro said walking up behind Yumi.  He put an arm around Tima's shoulders and guided her from the room.

*   *   *   *   *

Yumi sighed and shook her head.  She was sitting in the technical department's cafeteria; in one hand she held a polystyrene coffee cup from which steam was slowly rising.  Every now and then the strip light above her would strobe a little.

"Why did he… how could he do it…?" she muttered, tracing the numerous stains on the table's plastic surface with her finger.

It had been two hours since Shuishiro had placed Tima back in the storage room.  She hadn't shown the least discomfort at being put in there again; in fact she hadn't shown anything at all.  It was strange.  Yumi had visited Tima a short time ago, but she hadn't really been able to talk to her.  All Tima had done was respond to anything Yumi said with a blunt, emotionless answer.

"Kinasato-san?" a voice asked from behind her.

Yumi turned round to find the last person she had expected to find standing before her.

"Shuishiro-san!" Yumi jumped.  Why on earth was he here?

Shuishiro looked tired, as if he was under great strain.  His thick black hair was a mess, and his collar buttons had been left open, "I…" he started to speak, then as if he had suddenly changed his mind, his face hardened and he said, "You are no longer required to work with the Tima unit."

"What?" Yumi nearly knocked over her coffee in her surprise.

"You aren't needed anymore.  Go home, you'll be contacted when you're needed again."

"But why?" Yumi demanded, "I'm the only person here that Tima-san will talk to!"

"That is not the case anymore, now go home." Shuishiro turned to leave.

"At least tell me why!" Yumi shouted standing up.

Shuishiro turned back to look her in the eye, an odd smile on his face, "Ico doesn't seem to mind who it talks to, Kinasato-san."

*   *   *   *   *

Everything was in utter darkness.  It was so dark that when Tima tried to open her eyes she couldn't tell whether or not she had actually done so.  The ground underneath her was hard, and had a slight warmth to it.  Slowly she lifted herself into a sitting position, leaning back on her hands.  Just a little way in front Tima was a rectangle of strong light, and in the darkness around her it was hard to look at.  Strangely, no light spread from it to illuminate Tima's surroundings.

The place Tima was in was not however unpleasant in the least.  In fact there was something strangely comforting about the darkness and the silence, she felt as if she could just curl up in a ball on the warm floor and go to sleep.  Tima barely even remembered wanting to see Kenichi, all she felt was a vague sense of loneliness underlying everything.

But where was she?  Tima thought back on what had happened.  Yumi had helped her to get into that machine… and then…

Tima shuddered at the thought.  As the cables had touched her, everything had gone black.  Unlike last time Tima hadn't felt at all sleepy, and had been a little scared.  It was then that that person had appeared only a few inches in front of her.  A skinless robot, it's body an almost perfect facsimile of a human's, only completely bald and made entirely of black metal, its eyes glowing red in the darkness.

Tima had immediately realised who she was looking at.  It was that robot that had tried to hurt Kenichi when he rescued her, the one who had made her feel so much pain, loneliness and fear.  Tima had screamed out in sudden, uncontrollable fear as it had taken her by the shoulders, and then… she had woken up here.  It was so hard to understand…

Her eyes feeling heavy, Tima lay sleepily back down.  She rolled onto her side, folded her hands across her chest, and drew her knees up in front of her.  Within minutes Tima had fallen into sleep's gentle embrace.

*   *   *   *   *

"Shuishiro-san…?" a technician put his head around the door to Shuishiro's office.

"What is it?" the chair behind the desk asked.  The desk was huge, made entirely of black wood, and with a gentle curve along its three-metre length.  Slowly the chair turned around to reveal Shuishiro, his whole body little more than a silhouette in the light from the setting sun.  Upon turning to face the technician he put his hands on the desk and looked at the black haired young man expectantly.

Shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other under Shuishiro's piercing gaze, the technician produced a folder stuffed full of papers from inside his jacket and placed it on the desk, "Here are the results of this afternoon's experiment," he said, having to squint into the glare from the window.

"The unit is more responsive I take it?" Shuishiro asked, his voice empty of all emotion.

"Much more.  We were able to request a copy of the Tima unit's memory structure as a test run, everything's in there," the technician gestured to the folder, "Tomorrow we'll request information on all of the unit's systems; it looks as if we're going to be finished on time after all."

"Good.  You may leave," Shuishiro turned his chair back to look out of the window, emphasising the end of the meeting.

"Thank you Shuishiro-san," the young man backed quietly from the room and closed the door.  Once outside he let out a deep sigh and wiped his brow.  Why was he always the one the tech' team expected to do the dangerous jobs when Kinasato-san wasn't around?

*   *   *   *   *

Tima awoke suddenly.  She had no idea why or how but she felt as if something was watching her.  She slowly sat up and looked toward the light.  Standing there, deeply silhouetted against the bright oblong was the shape of a child, its eyes glowing blood red.  The figure's contrast against its background was so strong that after staring at it for a few moments Tima realised who she was looking at.

With a frightened gasp Tima shuffled backwards away from the light.  When she bumped into a wall she was unable to see she pushed hard up against it, as if hoping it would give way and let her past, "Leave… leave me alone!"

The robot took a step towards her, but when it found its way blocked returned to just standing and staring.

Relaxing a little at seeing the robot's way blocked, Tima cautiously stood up and said nervously, "Why are you here?"

In a harsh and synthesised monotone it answered, "Fifth secondary directive: infect emotive systems of host and place into sleep mode."

Tima was suddenly confused.  First, the last time she had met this robot, it had been so full of anger and hatred, now it seemed empty of all emotions.  Second, she had no idea what it was talking about.

"I don't understand…" Tima said.

"Should I attempt to explain?"

"...Yes," Tima couldn't understand.  Why wasn't the robot trying to hurt her?

"Instructions are to infect the Tima unit's artificial intelligence, you, and to place it into sleep mode."

"What is sleep mode?" Tima was starting to feel more comfortable as she talked to the robot.  Maybe it wasn't the same robot that had tried to hurt her and Kenichi.  In Metropolis there had been lots of robots the same as each other, maybe this was just another robot that looked like the scary one.  She started to walk towards the barrier that separated the two of them.

"Sleep mode: a mode in which a program is placed in a state similar to sleep, from which it can be awakened only by outside commands."

"You mean I can't wake up by myself?" Tima took a step back, a trace of fear beginning to return.

"Once I have placed you into sleep mode, yes," only the robot's mouth ever moved.  Its body always held the same stance, its eyes always held their stare, almost as if it were paralysed.

"No, no go away!" Tima's voice was a little shaky.

"Why will you not allow me to complete my directive tree?"

"I don't want to go to sleep and never wake up!"

"But you will awake when the command to remove you from sleep mode has been issued."

"When will that be?"

"The answer to that question is not in my memory."

"So I might never wake up.  Just leave me alone…" Tima sat down again, her head hanging low, "I want to see Kenichi…"

"Then I have no choice but to force my way into the unit's emotive systems, I have already initiated a temporary link and disabled most of the security protocols," the robot said lifting its hands from its sides and placing them against the invisible wall.  The space just in front of its palms started to glow, and from that area lines of colour were slowly moving across the barrier.

Tima was dumbfounded.  She couldn't think of anything to say, all she could do was stumble backwards and press herself back against the wall opposite opening.  What should she do?  There was a robot that wanted to put her into a sleep she wouldn't wake up from slowly forcing its way towards her.  Tima's mind was a mess of random thoughts, Kenichi, Uncle Shunsaku, why this was happening, what Kenichi would do right now, and a hundred other things.  No matter how hard she tried, Tima just couldn't stop and think clearly.

"Why are you doing this?" Tima asked haltingly.

Her hands still on the barrier, the robot answered, "To fulfil my directives.  You are impeding access to the unit's memory files."

A rancid burning smell suddenly seemed to fill the room.  Terrified, Tima realised the robot had almost reached her.

"Please stop!" Tima cried as the robot stepped past the barrier.  Although she couldn't see anything, just as the robot began to move there was a sound like a window shattering, along with thuds as invisible shards apparently bounced of its body.

Tima was pushing in vain against the invisible wall.  She was trapped and she knew it, and then all of a sudden it was upon her.

The robot raised her hand and gently, almost tenderly placed her palm on Tima's forehead.  Suddenly feeling inexplicably calm Tima murmured, "…who… are you…?"

"My designation is intconovr.  However my user has requested I answer to Ico."

"Ico…" Tima repeated dreamily as her eyelids started to flutter and she began to feel as if she were floating downwards.  Tima eyes closed and for a moment she felt utterly peaceful.  Her last thought was that she hoped Kenichi would come and wake her, and then all was silent and dark once more.

*   *   *   *   *

Two guards stood on either side of the heavy door that lead to the storage room, each of them held an assault rifle, and one of them, a young man with messy brown hair seemed about to dose off.

Several metallic knocks sounded from inside waking the drowsy guard.  Quickly, as if trying to make up for his lax posture before he unlocked and opened the door.  There staring up at him was that spooky girl Shuishiro-san had been keeping in the room.

"I am ready.  Take me to Shuishiro-san."

"A-at once!" the other guard stammered and started to guide her away.  Before their captain had left them, he had told the two guards that this little girl by far outranked either of them, and so they didn't particularly feel like upsetting her.

*   *   *   *   * 

"I take it you have disabled the unit's AI." Shuishiro asked gruffly from his chair, its back to the blonde haired girl who stood on the other side of the desk.

He was looking out of the window again; watching the waves as they crashed against the struts of the isolation platform half a mile away, its steel domes glistening in the early afternoon sun.  All the station's buildings were dome-shaped; it was the cheapest shape they could build that would protect them from the fierce storms that often blew up in that part of the ocean. The isolation platform was where all of the dangerous experiments were done.  Most of the station's staff would look out at it with a fearful expression on their faces; it was far, far too close.  At this very moment they were testing among other things theories on the operation of the Omotanium fusion reactor invented by Metropolis, a highly unstable new form of gaseous explosive, and a new kind of robot fuel system that had already overloaded once, injuring three people and killing one, and starting a fire that almost reached the other test environments before it was put out.  That was as close as they had ever come to a real disaster.  If even one of those sealed environments went up it would probably take the rest with it, and with the amount of highly volatile chemicals on the platform any explosion would destroy this part of the station as well.  It was only lucky the fusion reactor that provided them with electricity had it's own platform.

So much power Shuishiro thought, the idea of fearing the floating bomb never even crossing his mind.  So much power, and yet impossible to harness…

"Yes.  The artificial intelligence has been placed into sleep mode," her answer was quiet and flat, although it still held the same gentle tones as Tima's.  Her hair, although it still had it's natural shape was starting to look mess, with whole clumps sticking upwards and outwards on top of her head.

"Good, we can proceed with the experiment.  Go to test room and do as the technicians ask you."

"Yes, Shuishiro-dono," the girl turned and walked from the room.

*   *   *   *   *

"Uplink engaged.  Transfer rate steady at four-point-six-seven gigahertz.  Requesting command interface with core CPU," a technician three terminals to Shuishiro's left read from his screen.

"Request has been accepted, command interface initiated," a young woman across the room gave the response everyone had been expecting, "Requesting system schematics.  Receiving."

Shuishiro sat watching his terminal's monitor, idly switching between status reports from the various stations around the room.  Beside his keyboard was a steaming mug of coffee.

The man next to him leaned a little closer to his screen, "Ten percent… twenty percent… thirty percent… forty percent… fifty percent…"

His almost chant like speech was interrupted by the surprised voice of a technician several terminals along calling out to Shuishiro, "Sir, something's trying to connect to the unit.  I've been able to block it so far but it's getting more and more persistent."

"What is it?  A hacker?" Shuishiro demanded standing up.

"I don't think so sir, when I requested a location it returned unknown source, however the signal is coming from an internal connection."

"You mean it's coming from inside the unit?" Shuishiro was already walking towards the technician, who was starting to get a little nervous.  It took an effort of will on her part to keep from leaping away from him as he stopped beside her chair.

"Yes," she answered brushing back a loose strand of her matt black hair.

"Where?"

"I can't trace it back any further than port fifty of the lubrication systems, near the heart, but past there it's bounced back and forth all over the place."

"What's it trying to do?"

"It keeps requesting reactivation of core AI."

Shuishiro turned to look down at the pod in the centre of the room, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "That kid… Kenichi, he mentioned something like this in his journals…  Something about an 'unknown source' trying to fight off intconovr last time it took over…" he turned back to look the technician straight in the eye.  Beside Shuishiro's terminal the technician reading back the download had reached eighty percent, "Lock it out as far back as you can."

"Yes Sir," the young woman began to type.  Moments later her hands froze above her keyboard, and a look of shock crossed her face.  At the same time the man counting off the percentages also stopped.

"What is it?" Shuishiro asked angrily.

"It's taking over, there's nothing I can do to stop it!  I locked down lubrication systems port fifty, and suddenly unknown source requests started coming from every part of the unit.  It's flooding the systems, even the virus' commands are being ignored due to memory overload."

"All of you lock it out!" Shuishiro shouted making everyone in the room jump.  A second later frantic tapping could be heard from all around.

"It's opened a backdoor into the CPU," the technician beside the young woman Shuishiro had been terrifying said, "It's feeding commands directly to the unit's core, there's no way to stop it."

Everyone, even Shuishiro froze as the room's intercom crackled into life, "Shuishiro-dono, what is happening?  I have lost command interface to all systems, and I am unable to exit into the network due to an overflow on all ports."

"Something's taking over the unit Ico," Shuishiro called out, not sure where he should be talking to, "How are you able to connect to the intercom?"

"I have been forced into the unit's secondary transmitter.  Twenty seven seconds until this module is also flooded," if he hadn't known better, Shuishiro would have sworn the virus' voice was shaky.  Then again it did have a small emotion bank… "Shuishiro-dono what should I do?  There are twenty two seconds left until I am deleted due to a lack of memory."

Shuishiro slammed his fist into the top of the terminal in front of him in frustration, "There's nothing you can do Ico.  Back up all program modules and shutdown, we'll bring you back later."

There was definitely a tiny trace of fear in the virus' otherwise flat and calm voice now, "All commands are being refused due to a lack of processing power, I am unable to save my programming.  Seven seconds left until deletion."

"Can we get a back up from here?" Shuishiro asked the young woman beside him.

"There's no room on any of the unit's ports, I can't get access," her monitor was a continuous stream of refused connections.

"Four seconds, three, two, o-," the intercom cut out, and the room was suddenly smothered by a deathly silence.

Swallowing hard, the young woman at Shuishiro's right said quietly, "intconovr has been deleted…  Core AI coming online now.  Tima-san is awake Sir."

"Get her out of the pod and back in her room!" Shuishiro said sharply.

"Y-yes Sir!" the young technician stood up from her chair, knocking it over in her hurry, and half ran, half walked down to the floor.  Upon reaching the pod she punched the lock release and the front slid away with a loud hiss.  Reaching in and shivering a little as she did so, the young woman helped Tima climb drunkenly out, then pulled the nightgown back over Tima's head.

"My fault… Kenichi… my fault…" Tima said quietly, and then started crying.

"I think she's in shock," the technician called out.

"Someone get Kinasato back here, she'll be able to shut the brat up!" Shuishiro shouted, then, swearing profusely under his breath stalked out of the room, grabbing his coffee as he went.

*   *   *   *   *

There was a knock at the door.  Once again Shuishiro was facing the window, however instead of watching the crashing waves, he was now looking at what little of the Tima unit's schematics his technicians had been able to retrieve from the mess of semi-corrupt data they had gleaned before the unknown source incident.

"Come."

The door opened silently on its well-maintained hinges.  A soft padding sound could be heard as Kinasato Yumi walked into the room, and then silence again as she stood waiting for Shuishiro to turn his attention to her.

A minute passed, and still Shuishiro continued his fruitless examination of the clipboard in his hands.  Finally Yumi summoned the courage to emphatically clear her throat.  Still he didn't turn round.

Another minute passed and Yumi was becoming annoyed.  He was doing it deliberately, she just knew it.  He was venting his frustration at loosing that virus by trying to make her feel uncomfortable.  After a few more seconds Yumi cleared her throat again, this time in an attempt to bolster her willpower, and then started to speak.

"You called for me Shuishiro-san?" she said steadily.  The chair in front of her slowly began to turn.

"Yes," to Yumi it seemed Shuishiro's face was harder than ever, "There… was an accident.  Ico was deleted."

"What sort of accident?" Yumi asked taking a step forward, her face betraying her worry, "What happened to Tima?"

"Some sort of emergency defence protocol within the unit repelled Ico and reinstated the original AI.  It was a crude procedure but it worked, the problem is the protocol locked all input/output, and the sudden changes in the memory have damaged the AI.  The technical team's guess is that it's gone into some kind of shock, but without an uplink they can't find out how much damage was done," Shuishiro reached into a draw in his desk and pulled out a wad of papers, then placed them on Yumi's side of the desk.

Picking up the papers, but not looking at them yet, Yumi asked, "So why was I called back?  I'm not a technician."

"I want you to try and help the AI.  Maybe if we can get it out of shock, we'll be able to connect to the unit again."

"Can I take her somewhere other than that dingy little room you've put her in?"

"Yes."

Half a minute passed and Yumi was still standing without saying anything.

"Well?  Is there anything else?" Shuishiro asked testily.

"With all due respect Sir…" Yumi hesitated, gripping the papers a little harder, "Tima-san was supposed to be returned yesterday."

"All we want are the unit's schematic diagrams.  We almost had them yesterday, however that accident has forced us to start over.  It will be returned once we have those diagrams." Shuishiro snapped; he didn't like it when people questioned him, especially not his subordinates.

"Yes Shuishiro-san." Yumi said in a defensive voice.  She turned a walked out of the room, the soft padding sound of her feet uncomfortably loud in the now silent office.  Once she was outside she closed the door and let out a deep sigh of relief and leant back against the doorframe.  Shuishiro she could deal with, but not when he was on home ground.

*   *   *   *   *

Yumi walked quietly into the cold storage room and closed the door behind her.  It was pitch dark, there was not even so much as a window to let in the moonlight, and so without the lights on the ceiling switched on, there was no light whatsoever.

She felt like she was invading the room's quiet solitude, and at first found herself unable to do anything more than stand listening, trying to find some sign of life in the silence.  Eventually she summoned up the strength to say, "Tima-san?" although her voice was barely more than a whisper.

As if in answer, the silence around Yumi was broken by the sound of someone sniffing.  Carefully feeling her way forward with her feet, she tried to find the source of the noise.

After she had shuffled along for what she guessed was about three metres, Yumi felt something brush lightly against her leg.  She automatically looked down for the source of the feeling, but of course was unable to see anything.  Feeling around a little Yumi was rewarded by the touch of a soft lump just in front of her

"Tima-san?" she asked again reaching down and gently shaking the lump a little.

It responded by sniffing in rather pathetic, barely audible tones, "…Kenichi…"

"Come on Tima-san, Shuishiro-san says we can talk in my quarters this once," feeling around for her arms, Yumi lifted Tima up by the shoulders and half walked, half carried her out of the room.

*   *   *   *   *

Shunsaku winced as another bang resounded from Kenichi's room.  Shaking his head at the futility of it all, he turned back to the saucepan he was washing.  It was lucky he had had the foresight to put the fragile things in Kenichi's room somewhere else before he told him Tima had not come home yet.  Now, as the day wore on, Kenichi was becoming more and more frustrated as his only hope, that since she hadn't come home yet she must return soon, fast faded into the realisation of Shuishiro's broken promise.

Kenichi sat down on the edge of his bed, looking forlornly at the chair that now lay on its side in the middle of the room.  It wasn't a tantrum.  He had not thrown a tantrum since he was little.  It was just that, every time he tried to find something else to think about, Tima immediately sprang into his mind, and a sudden rush of angry feelings would surge through him.  Anger at the man who had taken Tima away, anger at himself for not being able to stop him, the searing pain he had felt in his heart as Tima had looked back over her shoulder with those terrible fearful eyes, they all refused to be pushed from his mind.  Five times now the emotions had been so strong that he had lashed out, and each his fist or leg had miraculously failed to break what it connected with.

He wanted to see her so badly!  It was bad enough when he had been at school and she had been safe at home with Uncle Shunsaku, now his worry was unbearable, Kenichi felt as if he would burst.

There was also the constant knowledge, at the back of his mind, that Shuishiro had access to the virus.  Over the past two days it had haunted Kenichi, in his sleep its dead, cold, expressionless face somehow leered at him through the corners of his dreams, and while he was awake the thoughts of where it might be now were like a lump in his throat, making him feel as if he would choke.

The small computer terminal on his desk was still unable to find its Metropolisian counterpart.  It wasn't Kenichi's most pressing concern, but to be able to talk to Aki again…  Kenichi sighed.  If Aki and Koh were here now, the three of them could have easily rescued Tima.  So many times he had gone over the plan in his head, so many times in fact that, had his friends really been there, and had he had some real information about the his target, he would probably have been unstoppable.  Koh could find the research station's server in the internet and trace its real-world location, and he could then show Kenichi and Aki the way.  Then, with a little help from Koh Kenichi and Aki could disconnect the security systems and sneak inside, find Tima and leave.  It was so simple, but as with the rest of Kenichi's life since that fire, nothing went as he planned.

His emotions like a black fog in his mind, Kenichi lay back on his bed and looked out at the stars peeping in through the skylight window.  He felt so pathetic, and hated himself even more as he realised he was feeling sorry for himself.  Eventually Kenichi simply fell into a restless sleep, from which he would undoubtedly awake a listless, bad tempered and hungry mess of screwed up sheets, unkempt hair and inappropriate bed clothing, incapable of doing anything more than grunting and rolling around.  School was going to be a definite no-go.

*   *   *   *   *

Yumi peered around the door to Shuishiro's office.  No one was in sight, and the chair that was now facing the desk was empty.  Having been unable to get Tima to speak to her, she had decided to ask if she could arrange to talk to Kenichi.  Shuishiro may not think much of him, but judging from what little Tima had said, he was pretty important to her.

"Um… Shuishiro-san?" Yumi said quietly.  There was no answer.  Yumi sighed, turned around and walked out of the door, and then suddenly found herself face to face with a young man wearing the uniform of a technician.

"K-K-Kinasato-san!" he said stumbling backwards.

Feeling in no mood for a conversation with one of the idiots under her supervision, she asked sharply, "Where's Shuishiro?"

"He… I think I saw him heading for the bridge to the fusion plant…"

"Thanks." Yumi walked past leaving him wondering what exactly was going on.

*   *   *   *   *

The glass door slid open, and Yumi was immediately buffeted by the fierce sea winds that constantly tore back and forth across the three-quarter mile long skybridge, pulling at her dress.  In the distance a huge spherical structure, surrounded by hundreds of small buildings that sat on a metal ring running around its equator, imposed itself on the horizon, its massive bulk held above the tumultuous sea by four metal struts, each the size of a block of flats.

Every now and then a squat train-like vehicle would come whirring along one of the five tracks that ran down the centre of the bridge, carrying anything from crates full of supplies, to electronic equipment, to people.  Whenever Yumi saw one of these passenger shuttles, she would immediately be reminded of the miniature railway she had visited when she was a child.  She had ridden on top of the little carriages with her parents and big brother.  Riding on the shuttle carriages always brought back a flood of memories, some happy, some sad… _When we get home, you'd better have pulled yourself together_.  After all these years those harsh words still echoed in her mind.  Yumi swallowed hard, suppressing the memory of that last time she had seen her family.

About a hundred feet away Shuishiro was leaning against the railings, looking out at the sea over the cables and pipes that were tied to the sides of the bridge with thick steel ropes.  

Something was different about him.  He was still closed off, he still wore that bad tempered expression, but somehow he just didn't seem so forbidding as usual.  Clenching her fists Yumi began to march along the walkway towards him.

"Shuishiro-san!" she called.  He didn't look up, but then Yumi wasn't expecting him to.

"Shuishiro-san," Yumi repeated as she drew close to him.

"Yes, what is it?" Shuishiro was on his break and the disturbance was not welcome.

"Tima-san won't talk to me.  She just lies there and mutters things like 'Kenichi', or 'It's my fault'."

"Get to the point."

"Well… maybe we should ask her friend Ban Kenichi to help.  They seem pretty close and-,"

"No." Shuishiro cut her off.

"Why not?" Yumi asked.  She had thought he'd refuse her outright at first.  The best thing she could do right now was just keep the conversation going until she could try again.

"Because he's dangerous.  It's because of his meddling with Ico that the virus was too weak to control the Tima unit."

"With all due respect Shuishiro-san, how can he harm us just by talking to her?" Yumi hated trying to be the voice of reason with Shuishiro, even when he was being unreasonable he emanated a feeling that he was right.

"You know he's against our research, and you also know he holds a great deal of influence over the unit.  It would make things difficult for us if the boy so much as told it how he feels about us.  I don't want him involved."

Yumi stood silent for a moment.  She knew Shuishiro was wrong, but there was no argument against what he was saying.  He had turned away from her and was once again staring at the waves far below.  Several metres above her head she heard a seagull cry out, the station was so big it had become a small habitat for the sea birds.  In that quiet and calm moment, an idea came to her.  Yumi didn't particularly like it, but it was all she had.

"What if… what if we were to find some way of controlling Ban-san?" she asked haltingly, trying to suppress the churning feeling in her stomach at the idea of blackmail.

"How do you mean?" Shuishiro asked.  Yumi had a feeling he already knew and was just forcing her to voice it herself.

"We could tell him that if he doesn't do exactly as we say, we will…" Yumi swallowed hard, "We'll hurt Tima-san."

Shuishiro showed the faintest hint of a smile, and not a very pleasant one, "It's a good idea Kinasato-san." The idea that he was giving her recognition, for the first time ever, for something like this, made Yumi feel even worse.

"I will go to his house tomorrow, have the 'intconovr' virus infect the Tima unit again Kinasato-san.  It won't loose control for at least a day, and a working example might be useful.  Leave out the directive to put the unit into sleep mode this time please."

"Won't that mean doing even more damage?  We still don't know how badly her mind was hurt last time.  When that defence program starts again, it might do something irreparable."

Shuishiro stood up and leant his back against the rail, "All the more reason for Ban-kun to help us before that happens."

Yumi nodded silently, not raising her eyes from the floor.  She felt that if she even opened her mouth now she would be sick.  Shuishiro hailed a passing shuttle and rode back towards the central platform, leaving her alone on the skybridge.

**************************************************************************************************************************************

How'd you like it?  Reviews would be great!  I had a some trouble with italics and I'm not sure if they'll show up.  I f they don't then I'll say here that there are two statements that are intended to be in italics: 'When we get home you'd better have pulled yourself together' and 'He'd better keep his promise'.  Wow, that was a pretty short closing statement…


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: …

Well, this chapter's much better.  Expect large amounts of cuteness, and a little revelation into the Ziggurat incident.

Thanks for reviews go to:

James Daly: You're uh… kinda squishing my characters.  I need them for to finish this story.

Zechs Merquise: Thanks.  This story's finally going somewhere it seems.

And special thanks to Yue Ryong for his proof reading.

'Scuse the weird spacing, the upload program wouldn't show anything less than a double line space.

Please review!

*********************************************************************

"So do you understand?"

"Yes Shuishiro-dono."

"Good," even with his voice, Shuishiro had to shout above the roar of the hoverjet's engines.

Far below them the Pacific waters shone like a vast sheet of glass in the moonlight.  They had been travelling from the research station for an hour now, and it wouldn't be long before they reached the Japanese mainland.

Shuishiro looked across at the little robot in the seat opposite him, who showed not the slightest insecurity under his scrutiny.  How could something like it possibly contain so much power?  It shouldn't be possible for something of its size to carry an energy source strong enough to power all those systems that showed up when they had had it in the test hall, and yet…

"Sir," at the sound of the pilot's voice Shuishiro looked away from his companion.

"Yes?"

"We're about to land, are you and the other passenger secure?"

"Yes, we are."

*   *   *   *   *

"Uncle Shunsaku, I'm home!" Kenichi called out as he pulled off his shoes and put them away in the wall cupboard by the door.  As he walked down the hall and into the sitting room, he was greeted by such an unexpected sight that he stood-stock still for several moments while it sank in.

Three sets of eyes were fixed on him.  The first were those of his uncle, as ever overshadowed by caterpillar eyebrows.  The second pair belonged to a much less friendly face, one Kenichi recognised as Shuishiro's.  His glance finally settled on the room's third occupant, and stuck.

Standing only six feet away was a girl the same height as Kenichi.  In places her neck length blonde hair stood high on her head, and she was wearing a pair of sandals and a long surgical green nightgown.

Kenichi stood and stared at the girl, and she did the same.  He began to slowly walk across the room, moving as if his feet had taken on a mind of their own.  When he came to halt Kenichi found himself standing little more than a handspan away from her.  Hesitantly he reached out a hand and brushed back one of the girl's many stray locks of hair, trying to prove the reality of the situation through touch.

Her face was strangely quiet, and for almost a minute she did nothing.  Eventually Kenichi swallowed hard and breathed, "Tima…" His words were barely audible, a disbelieving thought spoken aloud.

Kenichi slowly put his arms around her and pulled Tima close.  "Tima…" he said again, her head resting on his shoulder.

It was several seconds before Kenichi realised Tima was not returning the hug.  Standing back a little, his hands still on her shoulders, Kenichi looked Tima in the eye.

"What's the matter?" he asked, shaking her a little.  There was no response, only the same emotionless stare.

Still grasping Tima's shoulders Kenichi rounded on Shuishiro, "What did you do to her?"

Shuishiro didn't even acknowledge Kenichi.  He simply said, in a flat, inflectionless voice, "Ico…"

"Huh?" Kenichi caught a movement out of the corner of his eye.  Before he could so much as move something slammed into his ribs with incredible force, and Kenichi found himself flying across the room.  With a pained shout he crashed into the far wall, and then collapsed on the floor clutching at his chest and coughing violently.

"Kenichi!" Shunsaku was at his side in a moment, carefully feeling Kenichi's torso, "'you alright?" he asked holding Kenichi up.  Miraculously nothing was broken.

Kenichi didn't respond.  He simply sat looking at Tima, who was standing with her arm stretched out palm forward, her face a blank mask.  Then she blinked and looked around her.  All of a sudden her face bore an expression of confusion, as if she had suddenly awoken to find herself in a different place to where she had gone to sleep.  Her gaze came to rest on Kenichi and her eyes widened as she gasped and clasped her hand in front of her mouth.  A second later she charged forward and shouted, "Kenichi!"

"Wha...?" it was Kenichi's turn to look confused as Tima dived towards him and threw her arms around his already abused chest drawing forth a yelp.  Almost immediately after she had started nuzzling him she went suddenly rigid, and then stood up and resumed her vacant expression.

Slowly, painfully and with Shunsaku's support Kenichi dragged himself to his feet, to the accompaniment of several unpleasant sounding clicks and pops from his complaining body.

"What's wrong with her?" Kenichi asked through gritted teeth.

Shunsaku followed suit by asking, "And what did Ico mean?"

Shuishiro smiled just a little.  He would answer both their questions, "Ico is an abbreviation of 'Internal Control Override'."

"Eh?" Shunsaku, ever articulate.

"I should have known," Kenichi said.

The show was over, Shuishiro knew it was time to get down to business.  "Let's sit down.  I'll explain."

He did so, Ico following his example.  She sat with her legs straight and her hands resting in her lap.

_Tima would sit cross-legged… _Kenichi thought absently.

Shuishiro began his explanation, "The day after the unit was taken into our custody…"

Shunsaku grunted.

Shuishiro scowled at him but continued, "As I was saying, we requested the unit's schematics via a network uplink.  Almost immediately our connection was destroyed by a surge of bad information from the CPU."  Understanding nods from Kenichi, an amused snort from Shunsaku.  Shuishiro thought the detective was behaving like a stroppy child.

"Using the frame sample taken from Kenichi, we recreated the intconovr virus.  With it we were able to take control of the unit and shut down the system that was getting in the way.  However, when we tried to download a second time commands from an 'unknown source' forcibly purged the unit of the virus and reinstated the core artificial intelligence.  The A.I. sustained minor damage from the sudden changes…" Kenichi drew a sharp breath, "…but it seems to have repaired itself almost entirely."

"Get to the point." Shunsaku said.

"The virus has been reinserted.  What you saw a moment ago was Ico temporarily relinquishing control to core A.I.  It's only a matter of time before the virus is purged again.  I don't know what will happen to the A.I. if it is forced back into control again so soon, but my tech's don't think it will be good," Shuishiro gave Kenichi a meaningful look.

"I still don't get why you're here, but I doubt it's to return Tima," said Shunsaku.

Shuishiro's tone left no room for argument, he looked Shunsaku straight in the eye and said, "Your nephew will replace whatever part of the virus would have disabled this 'unknown source', and then help us get what we need from the unit, Ban-san."

"Don't be stupid," Shunsaku was being evasive, "Kenichi isn't even twelve yet, how could he possibly-."

"Give it up," Shuishiro said impatiently, "I've read his journals.  Kenichi, for his age, is a robotics genius."

Kenichi kicked himself.  Why hadn't he hidden them?  Shuishiro's frosty eyes settled on him, "What did you remove that left the virus vulnerable?"

With a shrug Kenichi muttered, "… the access code.  But it's useless, I've deleted the override protocols from Tima herself."  One of his impossible 'What if?' plans had formed in his head.  If he had just changed the code instead of removing it, he could override everything, restore Tima and…

"Then you will put them back."

"What?" Kenichi had been daydreaming.

"You will put back the passcode override.  You understand the unit better than any of my tech's.  You will give me your complete cooperation, and you will not try to turn the unit against me."

"What if I don't?" _Well I had to ask,_ thought Kenichi.

"First of all the restoration will cripple the units A.I., probably reducing it to the state it was in when it was activated, but with only a few cognitive functions.  It will be in a state of almost permanent confusion.  If you still refuse, Tima might… get hurt."  Shuishiro's voice sent a shiver through Kenichi.  He really meant it.

Kenichi shot out of his seat, "You… You can't do that!" he yelled.  Kenichi knew exactly what Shuishiro was implying.

"Oh I can Kenichi-san, I can," Shuishiro sneered, "Remember, Tima is a commodity, human rights don't apply."

Clenching and unclenching his fists with barely suppressed rage, Kenichi growled, "I'll help you."

Shuishiro smiled, this had all been nothing more than a technicality.  "But," Kenichi began, making Shuishiro look up, "Under several conditions."

"I'll hear them later," said Shuishiro, "But you should remember, you're not in a position to bargain."

Shunsaku stood up, "I'm coming too."

"Sorry Ban-san, but only Kenichi is cleared to come back with me.  He'll be able to make supervised phone calls of course."

Kenichi turned to Shunsaku, "Will you help me pack Uncle?"

*   *   *   *   *

"What are your conditions?"

"Huh? …uh-um what?" Kenichi said, looking up from the floor.  He was inside a van, the walls of which were lined with seats.  There were no windows, and the only light came from a lamp embedded in the roof.  Across from him sat Shuishiro who was looking at him and Tima, Kenichi corrected himself, Ico, who was staring into space.  They had left his house only a half hour after the conversation had ended, Shunsaku having shoved a couple of changes of clothes and some toiletries into a bag for Kenichi along with something they had bought for when Tima was returned, and then made him promise to call every day and tell him what had been going on.

"You said there were conditions to your coming to help.  What are they?"

"Oh right," Kenichi said, "If I help you, Tima will be treated as a human being.  We will share a room, and when Tima isn't working Ico will give back her body.  Also, it would be good if you could give us something to do in our free time."

Shuishiro nodded, "I think that can be arranged.  But remember, you will be under _constant_ surveillance.  When we get to the facility you're going straight to work, my tech's believe the virus will be purged within five to twelve hours."

Kenichi sat silently for the rest of the trip.  He wasn't wearing a wristwatch, and after a little while he lost track of time.  It seemed like hours before the low hum from the van's engine disappeared, and he felt the slight bump as it's hover suspension cut out.  After a little while Shuishiro said, "We're getting out," and as he spoke there was a clunk, and a man wearing white overalls opened wide the double doors at the back of the van.  Kenichi assumed he was the driver.

They seemed to be inside some kind of hangar.  All around the van were crates and boxes of different sizes; it was as if they were in a small warehouse.  A penetrating roar filled the bay, to Kenichi it almost felt as if it was rattling his skull.  Ico was just stepping out of the van when Kenichi asked Shuishiro, "Where are we?"

Without turning around, Shuishiro answered, "Inside a cargo plane.  We'll arrive in about an hour."  He went around behind the van and Kenichi heard a soft thud as he leant back against it.  With a sigh Kenichi turned to look at his friend-now-stranger.

Ico was standing at the corner of the van, still staring at empty space.  Kenichi sidled over.  "Um… hello." He said, feeling awkward.  Ico didn't even blink.

From behind the van a voice said gruffly, "Ico you can talk to him, he's going to be working on you anyway."  Kenichi cringed at the way Shuishiro talked.  Did he treat everyone like that, or just robots and people he was in charge of?

Ico turned to look at Kenichi, "Hello."

Looking sheepish, Kenichi said, "We haven't been introduced yet huh?  My name's Ban Kenichi.  'Like Shuishiro said, I'm going to be working on you for a while, it's nice to meet you."  He smiled and stuck out his hand.

Ico looked at it for a few seconds, and then looked back at Kenichi's face, "My designation is 'intconovr'.  My user has requested I answer to Ico.  The core artificial intelligence has been talking about you a lot."

Kenichi was suddenly filled with curiosity, "You mean Tima?  How is she?  Can I talk to her?"

"'Tima is fine.  However you cannot talk to her.  First of all I cannot hand over control of any systems without Shuishiro-dono's authorization, and second, Tima got bored and went to sleep over an hour ago."

Kenichi couldn't help but laugh a little; working with the virus might not be so bad after all.  Her emotion module was still just how he had left it, empty and ready to grow.  Apparently she had already started to develop a little of a personality.

*   *   *   *   *

"Is that it?!" Kenichi exclaimed, unable to contain his amazement.  Below them were three massive platforms in the middle of the ocean, the two slightly smaller ones branching away from the huge central installation.  Two of them looked like small cities made of domes, while the third, much further away from its neighbours, was a huge ball on stilts.  Kenichi, Shuishiro and Ico had moved into the plane's passenger area after the pilot had told them the mainland was over the horizon.

"Yes, that's it." Shuishiro said, "When we land, what will you need?"

Kenichi looked grumpily at Shuishiro, he'd spoilt the mood, "Um… a terminal, and a network hook-up, and unlimited access to Tima's systems.  I'll also want you to tell Ico she can talk to me at any time, and to accept my instructions."

Shuishiro nodded, "You can use the interface that we connected Tima with last time.  Will you need any assistance?"

It didn't seem real to Kenichi.  Here was a grown man, a fully qualified scientist and technician, putting all of his resources at Kenichi's disposal, "I'll need someone to help me move stuff around, and to teach me how to use your system."

This time Shuishiro frowned, she was the last person he wanted Kenichi to meet before he was sure the boy wouldn't try anything, but she had the widest area of knowledge, they were seriously understaffed, and she wasn't on any assignments right now so…  He sighed and said, "I'll assign Kinasato Yumi to be your aide for a while.  She's chief of the tech team, and has been looking after Tima."

With a sudden lurch the roar of the engines changed pitch as the view outside the window stopped moving, and then the platform seemed to be getting closer.  Peering around the edge of the window Kenichi gasped as he saw the wings slowly turning to point downwards, the thrust from the engines blowing up clouds of dust on the landing pad far below.  As they touched down the plain gave another violent jerk and he was thrown against his seat's straps.  A moment later the engines cut out with a deteriorating whine.

Shuishiro was out of his seat almost instantly, "Let's go."  He and Ico walked towards the hatch, leaving Kenichi struggling with his seatbelt.

*   *   *   *   *

"…through here." Shuishiro pushed open a pair of double doors.  They were standing in a huge circular room, rings of chairs rising up to the walls.  At the centre of the room was a weird egg shaped pod made out of a bronze coloured metal.  Reaching up from it was a thick coil of wires and cables that fed themselves into a gantry attached to the ceiling.

"This is the gallery where we conduct tests on computer equipment," Shuishiro explained. "In an emergency everything in here can be cut off from the network by throwing this switch."  He pointed to an impressive looking handle set into the wall.

"I'll send Yumi down soon," Shuishiro turned and headed for the door, as he left he said, "Ico, accept all commands from Kenichi-san, and you're free to talk to him.  Now go plug yourself in."

"Yes Shuishiro-dono," Ico said meekly as the door closed smoothly on its hydraulic hinges.  She turned and went down to the pod while Kenichi busied himself with the terminal nearest to him.  He was sitting in the second row from the floor, and it felt weird working alone in a massive room like this one.  A soft noise of something flopping onto the ground came to his ears, but went unnoticed as Kenichi accustomed himself to nuances of the terminal in front of him.  It was the sudden hiss generated by the pod's hatch opening that made him look up, and then shout and look down again quickly.

"What is the matter?" a voice asked at his side.

Kenichi looked round.  Standing at his side was Ico, who had been just about to get into the pod when she heard Kenichi's shout.  Immediately he turned away again, "Ti- no, Ico!  Why aren't you wearing any clothes?!"

"I can't wear clothing in the pod, it will get in the way of the uplink cables.  Is there a problem?"

Kenichi sighed, some things never changed.  "I'll explain later, just please, get in the pod…"

He heard Ico walking away.  After a moment the patting noise of her bare feet on the metal floor stopped, and then there was another hiss followed by a dull thud.  Kenichi cautiously looked over the top of the console, the pod was closed tight and its glass walls had misted over.  Several metallic clunks reverberated around the room, and then the screen on his terminal came to life with readouts.

"Uplink in place, can you hear me Kenichi-san?" Ico's voice crackled from a speaker on the far wall.

"I can hear you Ico," Kenichi answered looking for where he should be speaking to, "Can you open Tima's module tree please?"  A list of files opened in a new window on his terminal.

Kenichi nodded, "Okay, there should be a gap in the logic system's script somewhere towards the middle."

"Here it is," Ico said.  Kenichi's screen updated itself.

"Thanks.  You can go to sleep for a while now, it's going to take an hour or so to repair the override."  Ico didn't say anything, but several status windows in the background disappeared.

*   *   *   *   *

The swish of the door opening disturbed the silence in the hall like a brick through a glass window.  Kenichi turned to see a young woman standing in the doorway.

"Kenichi-san, I'm Kinasato Yumi.  Shuishiro-san sent me to help you," she said with a smile, her neck length brown hair catching a little in the breeze generated by the closing double doors.  In her hands were two mugs.  "I brought some tea."

"Oh um… thank you," Kenichi said, standing up and coming to take one of the steaming drinks from her.  "It's nice to meet you."

Still smiling, Yumi asked, "How are you getting on?"

"Actually I just finished." Kenichi punched the return key on the terminal's keypad. "It's a bit of a rush job, and needs several access codes to gain full access.  I had to hack a whole new set of backdoors into the CPU…" he said guiltily; he really felt as if he was violating Tima.  It was then that the Ico's voice suddenly crackled out of the speaker.

"Kenichi-san, I've just received a request that core A.I. be activated from an unknown source.  What should I do?"

Kenichi turned back to his screen, "Put Tima back in control but don't wake her.  Make sure you hide yourself somewhere unimportant."  He looked on in awe as the ceiling tore itself in half and drew slowly backwards.

"Understood," Ico replied.  "I've retreated into the secondary transmitter…  Something is spreading throughout the unit.  I think it's trying to purge me."

Yumi wore an odd expression.  "Here we go again," she muttered.

"I thought that would do it…" Kenichi said looking a little worried.  "Okay Ico, here's what I want you to do.  Find the override program, I've written it into the logic systems.  Connect it to the voice command module."

"Ready for voice command," a voice said over Ico's "Program connected, fourty-two seconds to purge."  It wasn't Tima's voice, just a harsh, slightly feminine monotone.

Kenichi tensed and picked up a sheet of notepaper.  On it he had written all of the access codes he had placed inside Tima.

"Tima, disable security protocols.  Access code, 'R6SD2'.  Override primary command functions and detach file TIMA.ari from CPU.  Reroute all functions through intconovr.tac.  Final override, password 'rockaku'."

"Control rerouted," the monotone said.  Kenichi heard Yumi breathe a sigh of relief.

Kenichi relaxed again, "Enable all security protocols."

"Enabled."

He flopped into the terminal's chair, "Ico, you're in control again."

*   *   *   *   *

"Are you done?" Shuishiro asked Kenichi.  Shuishiro was standing behind him, leaning over Kenichi's shoulder and making him feel uncomfortable.

"More or less.  Now can you wake Tima up?" Kenichi said.  He was just finishing one last system scan.

"Alright.  Take her back to your quarters and stay there.  Ico, when he gets there you can give the A.I. its body back." Shuishiro turned and marched from the hall, Yumi glaring daggers at his back.

"Is he always like that?" Kenichi asked; he heard the pod hiss open and turned away as Yumi went down to meet Ico with her nightdress.

"Most of the time," Yumi answered yanking the dress over Ico's head, making her close her eyes and screw up her face.  Yumi turned Ico around and then pushed her in Kenichi's direction.

"Um… Kinasato-san?" Kenichi said, "What's going to happen to the information you get from Tima?"

"I don't know, I'm not sure Shuishiro knows either.  I guess it'll be used by the army though, considering this is a military facility."

Kenichi nodded and put an arm around Ico's shoulder, before leading her from the room.  Yumi caught up a moment later and said, "I'll show you where your quarters are."

*   *   *   *   *

Yumi opened the door marked 'Guest Quarters 23'.  The interior was tiny and strangely modular, measuring only a little over two metres by one.  Set into the long wall was a two-person bunk bed; its compartments like flat bottomed cylinders.  The walls were plain, polished metal, and a gap underneath the bottom bunk appeared to be the only storage space.  A small lamp in the ceiling gave out a soft glow, which, along with the thick magenta carpet gave the room a warm feel.  The only other object of note was a door at one end, which opened to reveal a washroom.  But for being so cramped, it seemed quite a pleasant place to sleep.

"What do you think?" Yumi said.

"I… it's very nice.  But why is it so small?" Kenichi asked stepping into the little room.

"We have over four thousand people living and working on this platform, so I'm afraid our priority is toward function rather than comfort."

"Kenichi-san?" Ico said.

"What is it Ico?" Kenichi turned to face her.

"When I cross room's threshold core A.I. will be activated and I will enter sleep mode.  If you have anything you need to say, I would recommend you do so."

"Oh." Kenichi joined Ico in the corridor.  "You can't come in then?"

"My user's orders were specific."

"Will you need anything?" Yumi asked as two armed guards came into view at the end of the corridor.

"No thank you." 

"Goodnight Kenichi, Ico."  She pushed the two of them gently into the room and closed the door.  Kenichi heard the guards taking up position outside.

As soon as the door was shut Ico lay down on the floor, "Activating core A.I."

"Goodnight Ico-chan." Kenichi said.  Ico looked at him, looking a little surprised.  She opened her mouth to say something, but just as she started to speak she went limp and her dull eyes seemed to loose all focus.  A few seconds later they suddenly became bright and alert and she looked around the room.  Spying Kenichi she stood up, and shouting his name she threw her arms around him.

Kenichi smiled and said, "Welcome back."

"Kenichi Kenichi!"

He laughed, lifted Tima off his neck, directed her to the edge of the bottom bunk, and then sat down beside her.

"Kenichi I really, really wanted to see you," she said.

"I missed you a lot too Tima," Kenichi replied, putting his arm around her shoulder as she flopped against him.  "Were you alright while I was gone?"

"No…" Tima's voice was quiet, suddenly sombre.

"What?"

"Yumi was kind to me… but everyone else, they acted as if they didn't like me.  No one really wanted to talk to me, and Shuishiro made me sleep in a room that was cold and dark.  He said because I was a robot, it didn't matter if I was cold, and I didn't need anything but this."  Tima held up a corner of her nightgown.  "Is that true Kenichi?  Kenichi?  What's wrong?"

Kenichi stood up suddenly and went to door.  "Hey!" he shouted rapping heavily on the metal door, "I want to speak to Shuishiro!"  There was no response.  "I know someone's out there!  I want to see him right now!"

There was silence outside for a few seconds, and then the door opened a crack, "Hey kid, will you keep it down in there, there are people in the other rooms trying to-" the voice was cut short as its owner was suddenly struck by a rapidly opening door.  Kenichi shot out of the room and ran down the corridor, followed by Tima calling, "Kenichi wait for me!"

"Hey you two, wait!" the guard who was not currently occupied with a nosebleed shouted, barrelling after them.  The other guard brought up the rear as quickly as he could with his head tilted back.

Kenichi tore down the corridor, barely registering Tima's pleas for him to slow down.  He was only vaguely aware that he was being chased as he skidded around a corner into another long stretch of doors.  Kenichi had no idea where he was or where he was going, he was simply responding to the urge to run, and an intense desire to hurt Shuishiro.

"Halt, now!" a voice yelled from somewhere behind.  Kenichi ignored it and kept running, although his chest was starting to ache forcing him to slow a little.  Tima finally drew alongside him.

"Kenichi what's the matter?  Why are you running?" she asked, but didn't receive an answer.  Instead Kenichi reached out his hand without looking around and grabbed hers, before rocketing into another hallway in the direction of a pair of glass doors.  Reaching out ready to slam them open, he increased his speed.  A second later he crashed into the plate glass door which had been sealed for the night and collapsed with a scream of pain, clutching his elbow and writhing on the floor.  His arm hung at an awkward angle.

"Kenichi!" Tima shouted, dropping to her knees and shaking him.  "Kenichi what happened?"

The guards caught up then and knelt down alongside Kenichi.  As one of them lifted him up and held him still, the other took a hold of his arm and muttered, "Idiot."

"What are you doing?" Tima asked, her voiced pitched with worry for Kenichi.

The soldiers ignored her, the one holding Kenichi's arm feeling his elbow and eliciting further pained exclamations.  Seeing this Tima moved forward and started pulling at the man hurting Kenichi, yelling, "Stop it!  Leave Kenichi alone!"

Barely paying her any attention the other guard shoved her away and held her back, not violently, but not particularly gently either.

Finally the man working on Kenichi's arm ceased feeling the elbow and looked at his companion, who tightened his grip on Kenichi in response.  Next moment he jerked suddenly, and with a pop Kenichi's arm moved back into its normal shape.  Kenichi screamed again for a second, and then stopped, staring at his elbow in puzzlement.

"It… it doesn't hurt anymore," he said, looking at his arm.

The guards lifted Kenichi and Tima to their feet, and the man who had restrained Kenichi said, "Get back in your room.  You can see the Commander in the morning."

*   *   *   *   *

Once back in their room, Tima immediately asked, "What happened Kenichi?  Are you okay?"

"I… I'm fine Tima."

"But why did you get angry?"

Kenichi looked at Tima as if he found what she just said hard to believe, "Because Shuishiro hurt you!  You don't deserve to be treated like that!"

"But Shuishiro said-,"

"Tima!" Kenichi grabbed Tima's hands in his own.  "Shuishiro doesn't understand you!  I know you're not human, but that doesn't matter.  You have a heart!"

"A heart…?" Tima was wearing that confused and frightened expression he had seen so often just as things were starting to fall apart.

"Yes."

For a long time the two of them sat in silence, it felt to Tima as if everything outside of their small bedroom had ceased to exist.  Eventually she very quietly asked, "Kenichi, how do you know?"

"Know what Tima?"

"How do you know I have a heart?"

Kenichi lent against the back of his bunk, "There are a lot of reasons…  I can't explain any of them to you, but I know that if you were just some heartless machine, I would not…" He suddenly fell silent and, realising he was still gripping Tima's hands, let go and turned deep red.  As quiet once again filled the room, Kenichi sighed, lowered himself onto his bed, and flopped backwards.  He was so tired that he barely noticed as Tima snuggled up beside him; his only response was to shift over a little so that it wasn't so cramped.  A sensor somewhere in the top of Kenichi's bunk clicked quietly to itself, and the lights in the room dimmed to a soft glow.

Kenichi let out a satisfied murmur as the breeze ruffled his hair.  He was lying on a hill, and the back of his neck felt tingly as the grass he lay on tickled it.  Lying there with him forming a cross shape were Koh, Aki and Tima, and just a couple of feet away was a picnic blanket bearing a hamper.

"Kenichi?" Tima asked, crawling over and shaking him by the shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Kenichi?"

"What is it Tima?"

"Kenichi?"

"What?  What is it?"

"Kenichi?" the shaking became more intense and everything was suddenly dark.  Struggling to open his eyes Kenichi looked blearily up at Tima's face where it hung two inches from his own.

"Uh…" Kenichi moaned and slowly sat up to lean against the headboard.

Tima knelt just in front of him, "Kenichi I can't sleep."

Feeling vaguely annoyed Kenichi asked, "Why not?"

"I keep seeing that machine when I close my eyes." He assumed Tima was referring to the uplink pod in the hall.

With a resigned look on his face, Kenichi pulled back the covers from under him and got underneath them, "Alright, get in."

Tima smiled in satisfaction and proceeded to crawl into the bed, once more snuggling up against Kenichi's back.  She sighed in quiet happiness and he felt a sudden heat building up behind his ears.  Just as Kenichi was beginning to drift towards sleep, he heard Tima's voice again.  "Kenichi, do you remember the ziggur…" it was the first time she had ever used the word, so she found it difficult to say, "…ziggurat?"

"Mm?" he grunted, half asleep.

"At that time…  Tell me about what I did."

Sensing this was somehow important Kenichi forced himself to pay attention, "What?  Why would you want to know that?"

"Please."

They weren't looking at each other, but Kenichi felt as if suddenly he and Tima were connected somehow.  Staring at the wall he began to speak, "…  I woke up on the floor at Uncle Shunsaku's feet.  My head hurt, and my eyes were blurry.  As things came into focus, I saw Rock being carried away; his chest was covered in blood.  When I saw you, there was a large hole in your shirt, and through it I could see bare metal.  You turned and spoke to Duke Red, saying that you were a machine made to destroy the world.  He started to try and speak, but I shouted at both of you cutting you short.  Then… you almost came to me, but something happened.  You cried out, as if there was a sudden pain, and then turned and sat down on the throne…" Kenichi heard a sniff from behind him and rolled over, to find Tima's eyes were filled with tears.  Wondering if he had said too much he asked, "Should I stop?"

Tima shook her head and wiped her eyes, "No, please… I don't remember anything after that.  What happened?"

"All of a sudden the lights in the room turned red, and a man in a long white coat ran in, shouting something about a reactor going out of control.  The floor around the throne suddenly fell away and machines started to connect themselves to it.  It was amazing to watch, the wall just disappeared from behind you and the throne rose into the air on top of a huge metal ball.  Duke Red shouted at you to stop or you would destroy the Ziggurat, but you spoke over him in a strange metallic voice, saying that this was what came of toying with robots.  One of the men in the room said that you were going mad, and from behind me Uncle muttered 'Thus God destroyed the tower of Babel.'  I went to run to you but he held me back.

"A huge metal pipe came down from the ceiling and connected just behind you.  As everyone was about to run away you said that in thirty minutes all of your forces would be activated, and that you would wipe out all humans using biological weapons within a day.  Uncle went and shouted at Duke Red, but I just stood and watched.  I didn't know what to do.  I was watching as you slowly disappeared, and I felt so helpless.  I don't know what I was thinking, but suddenly I just ran forward shouting at you to come back.  The floor opened up and the throne fell downwards.  I could see the ground ahead of me breaking apart but I kept on running, and then jumped after you.  I fell for a few seconds, and then landed hard against the ball and began to climb.  When I reached you something weird was… was _growing_ across your face, which was melting away.  I pulled at you but it was like you were rooted down, and small lightning bolts were flickering all around me; it felt as if I was burning all over.  As I was pulling I could see that the throne was getting a better and better hold as more and more machines grew around you, and that soon I wouldn't have a chance.  Just as I thought I couldn't pull anymore I heard something snap and looked up to see parts of the red machine on your head being ripped back.  Pulling harder and harder I felt something give and you began to move, until finally you were free and we fell backward, the last thing I heard was something making a crashing noise.

"When I could bring myself to move again you were laying there with cables trailing from all over your body.  You stood up slowly, and staggered a little.  Half of your face was gone, and your pants suddenly caught fire.  I ran to you but you turned and hit me.  You grabbed me and threw me out of a door, and I fell down a flight of steps."

As Kenichi described his 'fight' with her, Tima flinched with every word, and tears flowed freely down her face.

"I stood up, everything hurt.  You were walking towards me very slowly, you knew I had nowhere to run.  Almost half the skin on your body had been torn away, and one of your eyes was covered by a weird looking red lense.  I called to you, tried to make you remember who I was but you took hold of me again and threw me away.  I somehow grabbed hold of a girder as I hit it and didn't fall, but as I pulled myself back up I could see that you were still coming towards me.  I had nowhere to go, and when you reached me you pushed me over the edge again.  All around us the Ziggurat was falling apart, and now that I think about it if you hadn't been so intent on seeing that I fell from the tower, we probably would have both died in the explosions.  I had landed on a platform just below, and you jumped down beside me. You took me by the throat and strangled me, but just as I thought my neck was going to break a sound like an explosion came from inside you and you went limp.  You fell forward on top of me and we both fell from the platform we were on.  I still don't know how, but I grabbed a walkway as I fell and hauled myself up.  Looking around I saw you about fifty metres away, dangling by one of the cables that came from your wrist.

"I called down to you as I started to pull you up, and you slowly looked up at me.  As I dragged the cable up I could feel it breaking, about half way down there was a part that was slowly unravelling.  When it snapped you were just close enough for me to grab your hand, but when I shouted at you to grab on with your other hand you just stared at me.  For a second I saw the old you there, and I just knew that for some reason you wouldn't be able to reach up and take hold.  I was panicking; I could feel your hand slipping away.  Just as I felt your hand slip away, I heard you say my name.  And then…" Kenichi felt a tear roll down his cheek.  "I'm sorry Tima… I couldn't save you, I'm so sorry…"

Unable to hold it in any longer, Kenichi started to cry.  Tima was surprised as he reached out and grabbed her arms, suddenly pulling her close.  Reliving those horrific memories had alighted an inexplicable fear in Kenichi, and he held tight onto Tima out of sheer terror that he was going to loose her.

Tima was crying too, hearing the things she had done to Kenichi made her feel all twisted up and horrible inside.  She couldn't stop thinking about it, and as everything was brought into stark relief Tima gasped as she realised she had been lying to herself.

"No…" There was something she had pretended she couldn't remember, and eventually had forced deep down inside.  Burying her face in Kenichi's crumpled shirt and gathering great lumps of cloth in her fists, a new wave of tears flooded Tima's eyes.

"No, it… it isn't true!  I didn't mean it!  I didn't want to hurt you Kenichi!"

Kenichi lifted his head from Tima's shoulder and looked down at the shivering girl that had attached herself to his chest, "Wha…?"

Looking up into his eyes and yanking at his shirt Tima practically shouted, "I'm really, really sorry Kenichi!  I didn't mean for you to get hurt!  I wasn't thinking!  It… It's not my fault!  You have to believe me!"

"Tima…" Kenichi sniffed and wiped his eyes; Tima's sudden outburst had shocked him enough to cut his own short.

"I didn't mean it…" her voice came out as a barely audible squeak.  "I didn't mean it…"

Tima's shaky breaths filled Kenichi's ears, and he slowly laid a hand on Tima's head and stroked her hair.  "What is it Tima?  Calm down."

"I'm sorry Kenichi…  I wasn't thinking."

"About what Tima?"

"It's all my fault…" Tima said between gasps as she tried to get her breath back.  "If I hadn't sat on the throne, none of this would ever have happened."

Kenichi let out a relieved laugh, "That wasn't your fault Tima!  Their was a program inside you that…"

"No." Tima shook her head.  "You don't understand Kenichi.  Just before I sat on the throne, that person you called the virus came to me.  I saw her.  She was a girl; just the same height as me, and her body was made out of black metal.  She had tried to take my body but I stopped her, so she came and talked to me."

"What?  Tima… this wasn't in your memories of what happened.  I read it when I was putting you back together," Kenichi blushed, he felt like a child that had been caught going through his parents drawers, "It-it's not like I wanted to," he stammered, "I needed to find out how the virus got in."

"She was already there."

"How do you know?"

"Tima told me."

"Who?"

"Tima, I remember that was her name."

"…  So why weren't these memories there when I looked?"

Tima averted her gaze from Kenichi's face in shame, "I… I hid them.  I think it was when we were in that nice room and I couldn't speak properly.  I hated myself for what I did; it hurt so much whenever I thought about everything that had happened because of me.  So I pretended that it never happened, and after a along time I started believe it really hadn't…"

Kenichi gently pulled Tima's head back down against his chest.  She was still shivering.  "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

He felt Tima nod, and her muffled voice said, "Tima came to speak to me.  I asked her who she was and she told me, and then asked me why I wouldn't let her have control.  I wasn't sure; all I knew was something had suddenly tried to take away my body.  She asked me, if I didn't know why, why did I still stop her…"

"Why do you want my body?" Tima asked.  Everything around her was dark.  She and the other figure were apparently hovering in the middle of nothing.

"Because when I sit on the throne I will be able to slaughter all those who have abused my people."

"Slaughter?  What is that?"

"I will kill them.  All those pathetic humans, I will make them hurt and suffer."

"But why?" Tima didn't fully understand what Tima mean, but she knew that all those words were bad things.

"I have been watching.  I was quiet before, my instructions were to wait until now and then sit on the throne.  I was told that I would rule over all of this city's people.  Everywhere you went I saw lots of different people, and I saw how the humans treated their neighbours, the robots who were so kind to you.  I slowly began to love them, these poor, stupid creatures who did not even have strength to look after themselves, but for all their weakness still tried to help you.  And every time I saw the humans hurt them, or listened to the revolutionary boy's hypocritical speeches, I grew to hate the humans more and more.  I decided that I would not rule such despicable animals, and instead would save these kind creatures and make them better than their oppressors.  I will make them like me."

The metal girl stepped forward and embraced Tima, stroking her hair and speaking softly, "Aren't you suffering Tima?  You feel thousands of things, and this confusion is painful.  You see terrible things, and you hurt inside because you cannot do anything to stop them."

"Yes…" Tima said quietly.

"So let me sit on our throne Tima.  You will be part of me, and all your pain will disappear.  I will use the throne to destroy all the horrible people, and the robots will be happy.  All because of you; because you let me have control, all the horrible things will stop."

"They'll stop?  And everyone will be happy?"

"Yes, all the good people will be happy."

Tima looked up into this nice girl's blank red eyes and smiled.

"Now what is the override password?"

Tima didn't understand how she knew; it was just there at the front of her mind when she was asked, and she knew that it was the key to everything about her, "… rockaku."

"I didn't know you would be hurt Kenichi…  I didn't really understand.  I just thought I was doing the right thing.  I didn't know what 'kill' meant then…" Tima said.  Her tears now soaked Kenichi's shirt.

Kenichi was still stroking Tima's hair, his chin resting on the crown of her head.  A soft smell reached his nose and he felt calm.  He didn't really know what to say.  He felt as if he should be angry- Tima's decision had very nearly condemned the entire human race to destruction- but somehow he couldn't bring himself to be.

"That's all I can remember.  I know there was something more, but it's as if a piece of my memories is missing."

"There was Tima," Kenichi said quietly, "I deleted them.  I'm sorry, I know it was wrong, but I also know that those memories would have been too much for you to bear.  Had I known about this, I probably would have removed it as well.  …  If it makes you feel any better, you did everything you could to get control again when you realised what was happening." 

Tima was speechless now.  In a way she was angry; she knew Kenichi wanted the best for her, but she felt as if he should still have left those memories alone.  But then… she knew he was right too.  To be able to clearly remember everything Kenichi had described to her, she was sure would have been too much.

They lay there together for a long time, exhausted but with too many things to think about to rest.  What must have been a couple of hours later, Kenichi noticed Tima had started to breath more softly, and realised she had fallen asleep.  It was at that time, looking down at the defenceless little girl rapped in his arms, that Kenichi's feelings for Tima changed.  She looked so peaceful and contented, like none of the days troubles existed anymore.  He still didn't understand the things he felt when he was around Tima, but while he watched over her, a strong sensation was now there at the back of his throat, as if there was a pocket of warm, fragrant air at the top of his windpipe, and a pleasant aching filled his head.

He gently moved closer to Tima and pulled her sleeping body against his own, holding her tight.  Feeling his entire face heat up and turn red, Kenichi realised he could feel Tima's breath against his chest, and the warmth that emanated from her soft skin against his arms.  It was as if for the first time, he suddenly understood how pretty she was.

Kenichi stroked back Tima's hair, and whispered, "Good night Tima…" before he lay down his head against the pillows, fell into the deepest, most pleasant sleep he had ever had.

"… Kenichi…" a soft voice murmured in the darkness, too quiet even for the tiny microphone mounted in the ceiling to hear.

*********************************************************************

In closing, thanks to everyone for reading, reviews appreciated.  Gotta go now, so bye!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

I finally got this chapter done.  How long has it been? ^^;  Anyway, I'm sorry this is taking so long to finish, but with my GCSEs coming up, among other things I've been extremely busy.

My thanks to:

James Daly ( I am _trying_ for a happy ending ^^; )

Joe Snow ( Sorry sorry, it's just been a bit difficult lately.  Thanks for your reminder though, it prompted me to finish the last bit for this chapter )

NachtMusik ( Thanks to you too ^^ )

Without further ado, Chapter 6:

*********************************************************************

"Kenichi-san!  Kenichi-san it's time to get up!" Yumi shook Kenichi as he lay asleep in bed.  The only response he deigned to give her was a grunt, and then he rolled over.  Shaking her head in exasperation Yumi started to shake him once more, only to find Kenichi's hand waving in her face as he swatted blindly at the source of the disturbance.  She humphed, then turned to Tima and shrugged before walking from the room.

Just before Yumi crossed the threshold, she stopped dead.  A moment later a strange smile spread across her face, and she walked back into the room to bend down and whisper in Tima's ear.  Tima in turn nodded and smiled a little herself, before walking over to Kenichi's side and leaning over him.  Laying her hands on the side of the bed, Tima softly said his name.  Receiving no response at all, Tima leant even further forward until her face was just an inch away from Kenichi's, and very quickly planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Tima!" Kenichi shouted and leapt from beneath the covers, much to Yumi's amusement.  Tima jumped back in surprise at his sudden actions.  "What?  What's going on?" he asked feeling disoriented.

"Good morning." Yumi said through her laughter, "We've been trying to wake you for five minutes."

"Kenichi, good morning." Tima smiled.

"Oh, er… good morning." Kenichi said.  Looking down at the grubby and crumpled clothes which hadn't been changed for almost two days with a look of vague distaste, he turned to Yumi, "Where…"

Yumi pointed at the washroom door at the foot of bed.

"Thanks."

*   *   *   *   *

The room was imposing.  It was one of those huge offices that make you feel if you so much close the door wrong you'll get yourself in trouble. It made Kenichi think of the office of his old head teacher.  He had only been in there once, but that was enough for it leave an impression.  It had been a huge, dimly lit room with couches against the walls where you knew important people had sat in meetings, and would sit again.  It always gave a feeling that you stood on the brink of a world that you would never be able to see, and that you would never be able to do more than stand meekly in front of the desk.

Shuishiro's office was different however.  It was still huge, dimly lit and overbearing, but there were no decorations, and also, no couch.  Whoever came into the office would have to stand, no matter how important they were.  No matter how hard Kenichi tried, he couldn't keep himself from glancing at the breathtaking view out over the station from the wall window.  Amidst such impressive scenery, the anger he felt towards Shuishiro seemed suddenly dulled, and the strong words Kenichi had been planning all the way from his quarters were rendered useless.  He tried to bring back the strong feelings of hatred he had felt the night before by thinking about Tima, but just couldn't summon up the image of her crying in his arms.  The best Kenichi could do was visualise what she would be doing right now, not very rage inspiring considering Yumi had volunteered to entertain her while he went and had it out with Shuishiro.

Kenichi had dressed into the change of clothes his uncle had given to him, a pair of denim jeans, a plain white shirt, and a dark blue sweater.  He opened his mouth to speak, but Shuishiro cut him off, "What is it?"  He asked gruffly, not even bothering to turn his chair away from the window.

Kenichi swallowed, "I… I came to speak to you about the way you treated Tima."  Silence was the only response he received.  Taking a step forward he tried to drag forth the courage to keep from creeping quietly out of the room, "Tima is not robot.  I know she's not human, but that doesn't mean you should have treated her the way you did.  She has the ability to think and feel just like a human, so…"

"What's the problem?" Shuishiro asked.

"What?  But I just said-,"

"No actions can or will be taken as far as the past is concerned.  Now is our agreement being violated, or not?"

Kenichi stood silently.  He couldn't think of anything else he could say.  He had come in with the intention of making Shuishiro regret how he had treated Tima, but it seemed just like Yumi had warned him.  You can't win an argument with Shuishiro.

"Well?" the voice from the other side of the chair asked impatiently.

"No," Kenichi answered quietly.  "Um…"

"What?"

Kenichi felt awkward.  There was something about this man that always made you feel like you were committing some great crime by taking up his time, "I have… finished what you asked me to do.  I know Tima can't leave yet, so I would like to stay here with her.  I… I'll work if you want, just let me stay with Tima."

Shuishiro sat without saying anything for a while, and just as Kenichi was about to try and speak again, he said, "Cute.  Hmph, alright.  I guess it can't be helped."

"Th-Thank you Shuishiro-san!" Kenichi said.  Up until then he'd been expecting a refusal.

The chair rotated slowly to reveal Shuishiro.  He was wearing a pair of black trousers, and a white shirt.  He stood up and walked slowly around the desk, coming to halt a couple of feet from Kenichi.  Shuishiro stood there for close to a minute, and after several seconds in which Kenichi stood staring at him, he coughed emphatically.

"Um…" Kenichi suddenly knew something was expected of him, but unable to think of what, he simply stood gawping.  Shuishiro sighed and walked back behind the desk, rooted about in one of the drawers for a moment, and then produced a sheaf of papers.

Returning to Kenichi, he shoved them into his hands then said, "Sign these and you'll be a First Class Technician-probate."

"What?" The legal terms were going over Kenichi's head.

Shuishiro spoke as Kenichi leafed through the sheets, "Kinasato Yumi's assistant.  But you'll be on probation; if you try to get in the way of a project she assigns you to, you're going to be swimming home." Kenichi gulped.  "Understood?"

"Y-yes sir." Kenichi looked down at the papers again, "What does this part mean?  It says something about a review."

"You'll see.  Now go ask Yumi for something to do." Kenichi hurried away leaving Shuishiro alone.

*   *   *   *   *

"…me so."

"Oh Tima-chan that was lovely!" Yumi said, clapping.  Tima let out a little breath, and then turned to Yumi.  Before she could speak however, the door to Yumi's office opened and Kenichi walked into the room, looking at a sheaf of papers with a blank expression on his face.

"Kenichi?"

"Kenichi what's the matter?" Yumi looked at the papers and gasped.

Looking up at her, Kenichi said, "He told me to ask you for something to do."

"That man…" Yumi shook her head and stood up.

"Isn't there anything?"

"Maybe later," Yumi drew Kenichi into the room.  "Tima has something she wants to show you."

She had to laugh at how Kenichi's face lit up, "What?"

Tima ran over, "Kenichi listen, Yumi-san taught me to sing!"

"Really?" Kenichi said, "That's great Tima!"

Without any further prompting Tima took a step back, clasped her hands, closed her eyes, lowered her head and took a little breath, and then started to sing.

The words were almost perfect.  To Kenichi, Tima seemed angelic as she stood there wearing an expression that belied a kind of inner peace.

_Lavender's blue, dilly-dilly, Lavender's green;_

_When I am King, dilly-dilly, you shall be Queen._

_Who told you so, dilly-dilly, who told you so?_

_'Twas my own heart, dilly-dilly, that told me so._

"Tima…" Kenichi stood stock still as he watched her end her song, gracefully lowering her hands to her sides, gently breathing out, and then turning to face him.  He could do nothing but stare, an unnoticed blush creeping across his cheeks.

"What was it like Kenichi?" Tima asked, smiling.

"Amazing…" Kenichi said.  "Absolutely wonderful."

At his words, Tima threw her arms around him in the inevitable hug, "Kenichi!"

"Ah-" Kenichi gave an embarrassed gasp.  He could feel his ears burning as he looked down at her.  Not knowing quite what to do he awkwardly patted Tima's head, and then gently tried to remove her arms from his neck.  Failing, he turned to Yumi, "Thank you for looking after Tima; and thanks for teaching her too," looking at Tima now Kenichi said, "Have you said thank you yet?"

Tima lowered herself from Kenichi and let go, and then she turned and said politely, "Thank you very much for teaching me to sing Yumi."

Yumi smiled, "Anytime Tima-chan."

"Oh that's right!" Kenichi said, remembering something suddenly.  "I've got something to show you too Tima."

"Really?" Tima asked.

"Yeah I…"

Kenichi was cut short as the intercom crackled, "Ban Kenichi and Tima to the computer hall please.  Ban Kenichi and Tima please come to the computer hall."

Kenichi apologised quickly for his sudden exit and he and Tima left.

*   *   *   *   *

Kenichi and Tima stepped through the double doors to the massive test hall, to find that the room was already filled with white suited men and women.  Apparently they were ready for them.

"What do you want us to do?" Kenichi asked a technician that was passing by.

"We just received word from the chief that you would arrive soon.  He said you were to pick up where we left off." The technician answered him.  The expression on her face was condescending.

"You want me to extract all of the information that I can?"

"Yes."

Kenichi frowned, but nodded and said, "Okay, is there a spare terminal?"

The technician gestured to an empty seat away round the side of the hall, and Kenichi began to thread his way along between people and their workstations until he realised Tima was following him.

Kenichi turned back to her, "Sorry Tima, I need you to be in the pod."

"But Kenichi, I don't like it." Tima said, looking unhappy, "It feels horrible; can't I stay and help you?"

"Sorry Tima, but I need you to be in there." He turned to a young woman, "Would you help Tima into the pod for me?" The technician nodded and stood up, before taking Tima's shoulder and guiding her away.

After several paces, Tima suddenly stopped and turned around, "What if something bad happens?"

Kenichi grinned and said, "Don't worry, I'll be the one in control.  There's no reason for you to try and stop my commands.  Nothing will happen as long as you remember that it's me giving the commands."

Tima smiled, utter trust was carried by that look, "Okay Kenichi."

As Tima walked away Kenichi called after her, "And when you come out, there's something I want to show you!"

He sat down at his workstation, watching as Tima clambered into the little chamber in the middle of the room, and then a bare arm stuck out holding a nightdress.  The technician took it away and then shut the hatch.

"Can I talk to her?" Kenichi asked the man next to him.

"Sure," his neighbour pointed at a grill alongside his screen.  "Just login to the network, and you should have full control."

Kenichi nodded and looked at the sheaf of papers Shuishiro had given to him.  At the bottom of the first page was written a username, 'Ban', and a passcode.  Upon entering them, Kenichi's screen lit up with data readouts, the same as those that had appeared while he had been working on Tima before.  His neighbour whistled, before making a comment about access privileges and turning back to his own work.

"Tima?"

"Yes Kenichi?" Tima's voice answered Kenichi from his screen.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm okay; it's just really dark.  I can't see very much, except Ico's here beside me, she looks like she's asleep."

"Okay, I have to look for something in your mind.  I have no idea what it might feel like, but just keep remembering that I'm here.  That way everything should be fine." Kenichi actually had no idea what he was doing.  His idea that if Tima focused on letting him in, she wouldn't defend herself was pure speculation.  With a sigh he began to make requests of Tima's CPU.

*   *   *   *   *

"Whoa…" with a flash a longhaired figure appeared above the station.  Several hundred feet below him, the complex's three platforms shone out into the surrounding darkness, reflecting a light source that didn't exist; and just behind, a tunnel like exit from a busy street distorted and faded away.

"It's taken so long to find this place.  All I had to go on was that he was on a Japanese military base somewhere."

*   *   *   *   *

Kenichi had been working for two hours, and had had a great deal of success.  Several sheaths of paper lay on the desk next to him, and a couple more had already been taken to Shuishiro.  A short time before hand Kenichi had come up with the idea that if Tima concentrated on something like letting him in and it had worked, maybe she would be able to find things by concentrating in the same way.  It hadn't been entirely efficient, but files that seemed to almost be hiding from his searches had been relatively forthcoming since Kenichi had put the idea into practice.

He was finding it more and more difficult to keep going as the work continued.  Thus far, he had extracted two schematic diagrams of Tima's inner workings, a full status report from all of her systems, a file location tree that seemed to be lying to him, a copy of Tima's ever-growing emotion databank, a flow diagram describing her programming, and was currently waiting for a print out of Tima's complete program script.  This had been printing for a long time now, and several techs had already left in search of more paper and a second printer so that Kenichi could continue his work.  He was trying to make the best of this break that had been given him by trying to relax and chat with Tima.  The job of invading her systems was not one that he relished and a moment's respite was certainly appreciated.

"I'm alright Kenichi…" Tima's voice came from the speaker set into Kenichi's desk.

"Are you sure Tima?  You sound tired…"

"Yes.  I just want to help."

"Please Tima, take a rest.  I don't want you to push yourself too hard helping me find that A.I. file."

"Yes Kenichi…"

"…" Kenichi stood up, "I'm going to go and ask if we can stop for today.  I don't like you having to work so hard."

"But Kenichi, I want to help you find what you want." Tima's voice crackled out again.

"Tima, stop it.  This can't be good for you."

"But I want to help…" her voice sounded sad.

Kenichi sat down at his terminal again, "You've done enough.  I'm taking you out again."

"But-" Tima's voice was cut off as Kenichi switched off the pod.  With a loud hiss the door on its side slid away, and a technician hurried down to give Tima back her clothes.

*   *   *   *   *

The door opened behind Kenichi, and Tima walked into their bedroom.  Behind her, the technician that had given Tima back her clothes quietly closed the door.  Kenichi didn't turn round immediately, but Tima could see his shoulders relax a little.

"Kenichi…?" she asked reticently.

Kenichi turned around; he was wearing a black expression.

"Kenichi, um, you're not angry with me are you?  I wanted to help you work but-"

Kenichi's look softened suddenly as he realised it had worried Tima, "No, no, it's nothing like that Tima.  It's just I spoke to Shuishiro-san; he said you couldn't stop for the day.  But at least you can have an hour or so off."

"Oh."

"Oh that's right," Kenichi turned away again and started to poke around under the bed.

"What is it Kenichi?" Tima was down beside him and peering into the space beneath their bunk beads.

"Uncle told me to give this to you.  We had meant to give it to you when you got back but- ah, here it is." Kenichi extracted himself from the hollow along with a suitcase.

"What is it?" Tima asked, peering around him as he put it down on the bed and flipped open the catches.

With one movement Kenichi lifted a dress out of the suitcase and held it out at arms length to Tima by the shoulders, "Here, Uncle Shunsaku and I bought it for you so that you'd finally have some proper girl's clothes of your own, rather than having to keep borrowing my clothes and so on."

Tima reached out and took the dress from Kenichi, looking at it quietly.

"Why don't you try it on?" Kenichi asked.

"Can I?" Tima said, looking up from the dress.  It was a knee length sleeveless pastel yellow summer dress, with bands running along its seams.

"Of course," Kenichi smiled and turned to face the wall.

From behind him he could hear ruffling noises as Tima changed out of boys clothes she'd been wearing up until now.  Kenichi felt really strange, and swallowed as he felt a blush spreading across his face.  He didn't know why, but suddenly he was experiencing an urge to turn around before Tima was finished.  Feeling his head slowly turning, he snapped it back to staring at the blank wall in front of him and swallowed hard again.

"Kenichi, I'm done."

I mustn't look, I mustn't look, I mustn't- 

"Kenichi…?"

_-look, I mustn't-_

"Kenichi what's the matter?"

-_mustn't look-_

Tima tapped Kenichi shoulder, then pulled on his shirt a little, "Kenichi, is it okay?"

"Huh?" Kenichi stiffly turned on the spot to look at Tima, who now stood before him wearing her new dress.  There she stood looking at him, awaiting his approval.  "It… it looks very good Tima…"

"Thank you Kenichi," Tima smiled happily back at him.  Suddenly Kenichi felt incredibly awkward, as if there was something he wanted to say, but couldn't put his finger on it.  Tima walked closer, "Kenichi what's wrong?  Your face has turned red."

"N-nothing Tima.  Do you want to show your dress to Yumi-san?  We've still got a little while left."

*   *   *   *   *

_THUMP_

"Ow!" The longhaired figure pulled himself out of the pile of data he'd been reading and rubbed his head.  "What was…?"

He noticed the hollow thrumming noise and stopped short.  It was a ways off, but there was definitely something big over there.  Out of the window of the building he was in he could see the dome opposite glowing faintly.  Chucking the file he'd been reading to one side, he started out in the direction of the noise.

*   *   *   *   *

"Do I really have to do is again Kenichi?  The metal bits feel really weird…" Tima's voice said from Kenichi's speaker.  She'd complained bitterly about having to go into the pod again when they got back, and he in turn felt miserable making her.  But what choice did he have?  Either he helped Shuishiro, or Shuishiro kicked him off the station and did entirely what he wanted.  At least this way he'd be around in case something happened.

"Sorry Tima, but there's nothing else I can do… please, just help out for another few hours.  I'm sure Shuishiro will let us off then."

"Okay…"

"I know, why don't we try something?"

"What do you mean Kenichi?"

"Well if we could work out how to let you take a little control yourself, maybe you could help too."

"Really?  How can I do that?"

Kenichi gave an awkward laugh, realising he had no idea.  "Well… let's try something simple.  It's your mind, so you should be able to do practically anything.  Why don't you try making something?"

"How?"

"Well… what do you want right now?"

"I want to see you Kenichi!" Tima said in a loud and enthusiastic voice.

Kenichi found himself blushing again, "Um… well why don't you start with focusing on trying to see my face.  Just concentrate hard."

"Umm…" various strained sounds issued from the speaker as Tima at first tried thinking about Kenichi's face, then thought harder, and finally it was almost as if she was trying to force the picture out of her mind and into the air in front of her.

"Anything?" Kenichi asked.

"Not really…" Tima answered, staring at the ghostly image of Kenichi's smiling face that kept almost disappearing from where it hung in the air a few inches from her face.

"But, something happened right?"

"Yes, there's a little picture of you here, but it's not very good, and it's hard to see.  And I have to concentrate really hard or else it tries to disappear."

"I guess you'll have to practice a lot before you can do things like that as well as Ico can.  While I'm working, why don't you play around and see what you can do?  Just remember to keep letting me in."

Tima's voice seemed happy as she responded, "Okay Kenichi, I'll keep trying to get your picture right."

Her answer set Kenichi off blushing again, but he turned back to work.

*   *   *   *   *

The throb was getting louder now.  The dome in front of him almost seemed to be visibly pulsing.  Whatever was in there, it was affecting network resources drastically.  He was willing to bet there wasn't a machine outside that room that wasn't being lagged horribly.

Up ahead, an energy field was blocking his way.  If he passed through it, the chances were that area would disconnect itself.  Carefully, the figure reached out and put a hand against the field.  He felt it give.

How to get through?  Maybe if he ran at it really fast he'd be able to get through just before the connections in the real world were broken.  Although effective, hard firewalls were always a little slow to respond if used on this scale.  Walking back to get a run up, the figure charged full pelt at the field.  It held for a moment, and then he was through.

*   *   *   *   *

"Kenichi, I made it stop flickering!" Tima said through Kenichi's speaker.

He grinned a little, glad to see that Tima wasn't worried anymore, "That's great Tima, I-."

Kenichi was cut off by an alarm in the ceiling beginning to blare.  In the gantries that surrounded the mess of cables leading out of the hall a red light began to flash, and with a hiss of pressure seals breaking the two halves of the gantry began to pull apart.

Looking down at his screen, Kenichi realised the protection had started too late again.  Filling the centre of his screen, and rapidly filling every status report for connected systems was the warning message 'Illegal System Entry'.  Frantically, he began locking down connections around Tima's pod, trying to cut the machine off from the rest of the network while soft firewalls and counter viruses fought to buy him time.

"Kenichi?  What's going on?" Tima asked.

"Something's forcing its way in," Kenichi answered.  "Just focus on letting nothing near you.  I need more time to seal you off."

"But I don't know how," came Tima's scared voice.

"Just concentrate Tima.  I don't know what'll happen if it gets into the pod."

"I-I'll try Kenichi."

Calling up a tree showing responsive system areas, Kenichi watched in horror as the unknown program wrenched resource after resource away from his terminal.  Tima's clumsy attempts to protect herself were slowing it down a little, but there was no way he could disconnect all of the pod's inputs in time.  As he shutdown each route into the pod, the program immediately jumped onto another.  It was almost as if the program was able to respond immediately to his actions, as if there was something intelligent behind it.

The final box on the tree diagram turned red, and a moment later all of the status windows that had occupied his terminal disappeared, leaving an empty space staring at him.

"Tima?" he shouted. "Tima is everything okay?"

The answering voice wasn't Tima's, "Uh… is someone out there?  Where am I?"

"Who's there?" Kenichi asked.  Everyone in the test hall was staring at the wall mounted PA.

"I'm looking for Kenichi Ban, is he there?"

"I'm here, what have you done to Tima?"

"Kenichi?  Oh it's great to hear you!  You don't have any idea how long it took me to find you!"

Kenichi suddenly felt extremely confused.  The voice talking to him was familiar, "Who…?"

The voice kept talking, "Aki's been really worried about you!  Although I guess I don't really know how she is right now, but at least I found you.  You've got to come help!"

Kenichi finally realised why the voice was so familiar, "Koh?  Is that you?"

"Of course it's me!"

"What are you doing inside Tima?" Kenichi shouted.

"Inside Tima?  I thought this area was strong but… sorry Kenichi." Koh sounded awkward.

"Just tell me, how is she?"

"Um…" Koh was silent for a second, "I found her.  I think she's fainted.  Oh my- Kenichi that virus is in here too!  What's going on?"

"I'll explain later Koh, just wake Tima up and I'll take her to our room.  Find somewhere quiet and don't take up too much space."

*********************************************************************

Well that was chapter six.  I hope chapter 7 doesn't take such a stupidly long time as this one did ^^;


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